The top time has changed hands again. Down goes the Williams of Alex Albon and in his place comes last week's Japanese Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen.

Can anyone beat the Dutchman's new quickest time?

Toppling complete by the Williams' of Alex Albon. Chares Leclerc moves to second as Albon hits a 1:31.696, just a fraction quicker than the Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton improved on his latest soft attempt and briefly stepped over George Russell to go top of the timesheets, but Ferrari team-mate has beaten his marker is now the man to topple with a 1:31.729.

There's plenty of work going on down at Aston Martin, who have just posted an update regarding the situation with Fernando Alonso's steering wheel.

"Upon further investigation, we’re changing parts of the steering system on Fernando’s car," Aston have written on X.

The top four of George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen are all on the soft tyre, while fifth-placed Oscar Piastri, along with his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris in ninth, are ploughing on with a hard-tyre run.

Charles Leclerc is the next driver to change from yellow rubber to red.

Lewis Hamilton has dumped his mediums for the soft compound now. The seven-time world champion clocks a 1:32.157 to go top, after a slight wobble at Turn Eight.

P1 has turned to P2, though, as former Mercedes team-mate George Russell beats his time with a 1:31.945 on the same red rubber. Russell had his own moment around Turn Four during his fast lap.

Charles Leclerc is out for his first runs of this Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, opting for the yellow mediums like his team-mate Lewis Hamilton. But as the Monegasque driver reaches Turn 15, his Ferrari is off wide and all over the gravel, keeping him seventh on the early timesheets.

Fernando Alonso's steering wheel is blank - no information whatsoever. It also looks like it's coming off, so the Spaniard tells his team there's a problem and he needs a change asap.

Mercedes have gone soft for both Kimi Antonelli, whose car has been fixed after issues in first practice, and team-mate George Russell. The Italian teenager is second on the timesheets and is the quicker of the two Silver Arrows drivers by a couple of tenths, with Russell slipping into P3 behind him.

Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, is on a set of the yellow medium tyres and is fastest so far with a 1:32.157.

Max Verstappen has the helmet cam on this weekend, so we're getting a great look at the Dutchman's view in the cockpit as he takes to the circuit for the first time this weekend on a set of the soft tyres. At the moment, the Red Bull isn't playing ball, with Verstappen commenting the ride is "very bad" and the car is "jumping a lot".

Now that the heat has cooled slightly, drivers should be offered more grip from the Bahrain track. However, Charles Leclerc, who sat out of FP1 earlier on, has just slid on his medium tyres, so maybe we'll give it a few laps.

Pierre Gasly goes to the top on a set of hard tyres with a 1:32.699 in the Apline.

The lights are on in Bahrain. Second practice is green.

Image source, Getty Images

Formula 1 bosses have rejected a proposal to reintroduce V10 naturally aspirated engines in the near future.

In a meeting on Friday, F1, governing body the FIA and the engine manufacturers agreed that the sport was committed to the revised hybrid engine rules that start next year.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been pushing behind the scenes the idea of abandoning the new rules before the end of their five-year cycle and switching to naturally aspirated V10s powered by sustainable fuels.

But the majority of car manufacturers involved in F1 preferred to stick with the new rules and made clear their commitment to hybrid power.

Have a read of Andrew Benson's full story here

Image source, Getty Images

Ferrari have got some new bits on the car this weekend as they look to increase their pace and overall performance. And while Lewis Hamilton finished third on the timesheets after a late soft tyre run in FP1, the seven-time world champion did highlight a few struggles during the first hour, at one points saying the car felt "horrendous". We'll see what Charles Leclerc makes of the upgrades when he takes to the track with his team-mate next.

Now that the sun is setting in the Middle East, we'll see temperatures more representative of what teams and drivers can expect for the one-lap shootout in qualifying tomorrow and the full grand prix on Sunday. The conditions are still warm, however, with not a drop of rain in sight.

Image source, Getty Images

Speaking of Carlos Sainz, the Spaniard has escaped a fine for swearing in the news conference yesterday, after he dropped a naughty word beginning with 'S' when discussing his Japan penalty for missing the start of the national anthem.

The FIA decided not to refer him to stewards in Bahrain, with a spokesman saying Sainz had apologised for his conduct and would make up for the breach, in a manner to be determined.

Sainz was staring down the barrel of a 40,000 euros (£34,000) fine for his slip-up under new rules introduced this year by the sport's governing body.

Image source, Getty Images

In an opening session brimming with rookie drivers, the drama levels were low on the Sakhir circuit as championship leader Lando Norris put his McLaren top of the timesheets from the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Alex Albon.

Mercedes' George Russell, Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, Fernando Alonso over at Aston Martin, Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Ollie Bearman at Haas and Williams' Carlos Sainz are all back in the saddle for second practice.

Image source, Getty Images

Hello again, folks. Hope you're all suitably fed and watered. Second practice gets under way at 16:00 BST, which is 6pm local time in Bahrain - prepare those floodlights.

Harry Benjamin, former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley and F1 correspondent Andrew benson will be with us shortly. Commentary is available on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and at the top of this page using the 'listen live' tab.

You can also ask BBC Sounds to play Bahrain Grand Prix practice two via most smart speakers.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

McLaren's Lando Norris set the pace in a largely unrepresentative first practice session at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Norris headed Alpine's Pierre Gasly by 0.238 seconds with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton third, 0.596secs slower than Norris, and Williams driver Alex Albon fourth.

Albon narrowly avoided a collision with the other Williams of Luke Browning after a miscommunication when Browning was on a flying lap and came across Albon's car on the entry to Turn 12.

Both went the same direction when Albon was trying to get out of Browning's way, but a crash was avoided.

Read the full report here

Mercedes will probably be working through their lunch break to get Kimi Antonelli back on track for second practice but overall, that was a routine hour in Sakhir for most teams.

We're not missing our dinner, however, so go grab some food and come back and join us for the second hour of running from 15:45 BST.

See you shortly!