As FIA Formula 2 began its final race weekend of the 2020 season, Yuki Tsunoda was fastest for Carlin in practice with the pressure now off the Japanese driver being out of title contention.
The Red Bull junior has been tipped for a Formula One seat with AlphaTauri but he may fail to gain the necessary super license points should he fall too far down the F2 standings.
Tsunoda managed the incredibly bumpy Sakhir Circuit well to finish the 45-minute session fastest by over two tenths from his Carlin teammate Jehan Daruvala.
The Indian scored his first podium in F2 last weekend before being taken out of the sprint race by championship hunter Callum Ilott and he’ll be hoping for more success this weekend.
Mick Schumacher holds a fourteen point lead over Ilott coming into this final round and the main title fighters were only separated by two tenths themselves but on such a short lap, that was the difference between seventh and 18th, with the German faster.
Luca Ghiotto was third fastest for Hitech GP after a disappointing weekend last time out but his teammate is still within mathematical reach of the title. Nikita Mazepin was fifth quickest in practice after his F1 seat at Haas was confirmed in midweek behind Felipe Drugovich.
Marcus Armstrong had a much improved weekend in the first half of the Bahrain double-header and he was at the sharp end again in practice finishing sixth ahead of Schumacher and Ilott’s UNI-Virtuosi teammate Guanyu Zhou.
Louis Delétraz was ninth from Robert Shwartzman who needs pole position later today to still be in with a chance of the title in his rookie season. The session was ended five minutes early as Artem Markelov’s HWA went up in smoke on the start/finish straight.
| Pos. | Name | Team | Lap Time |
| 1 | Yuki Tsunoda | Carlin | 1:03:267 |
| 2 | Jehan Daruvala | Carlin | 1:03:495 |
| 3 | Luca Ghiotto | Hitech GP | 1:03:582 |
| 4 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | 1:03:609 |
| 5 | Nikita Mazepin | Hitech GP | 1:03:664 |
| 6 | Marcus Armstrong | ART | 1:03:872 |
| 7 | Mick Schumacher | PREMA | 1:03:876 |
| 8 | Guanyu Zhou | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:03:879 |
| 9 | Louis Delétraz | Charouz | 1:03:940 |
| 10 | Robert Shwartzman | PREMA | 1:03:966 |
| 11 | Dan Ticktum | DAMS | 1:03:994 |
| 12 | Christian Lundgaard | ART | 1:04:012 |
| 13 | Ralph Boschung | Campos | 1:04:014 |
| 14 | Théo Pourchaire | HWA Raacelab | 1:04:060 |
| 15 | Sean Gelael | DAMS | 1:04:065 |
| 16 | Pedro Piquet | Charouz | 1:04:065 |
| 17 | Roy Nissany | Trident | 1:04:104 |
| 18 | Callum Ilott | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:04:117 |
| 19 | Marino Sato | Trident | 1:04:166 |
| 20 | Artem Markelov | HWA Racelab | 1:04:252 |
| 21 | Guilherme Samaia | Campos | 1:04:366 |
| 22 | Guiliano Alesi | MP Motorsport | 1:04:426 |
