Cars are out on track again in Diriyah for a second practise session, the first of the weekend held in daylight conditions, thus resembling more the scenery drivers will encounter in Qualifying rather than in the actual race.
Yesterday the drivers had mentioned the dusty track surface as reason behind the initial laps being much slower than usual at the street circuit.
All drivers are able to start the session, including Sebastien Buemi with a fresh battery on his Envision car after the technical failure he suffered from yesterday.
After the first set of attempts, Jaguar leads with Cassidy signing a 1:19.560s, but the dynamic duo’s efforts are improved by new Mahindra teammates Mortara and De Vries.
Robin Frijns ran wide at Turn 18, but is able to resume his session as if nothing happened.
Latest driver to cycle in the lead is reigning champion Jake Dennis as the first driver to lap in the 1:15s, and he is provisionally joined on the podium by McLaren’s Bird and Buemi, with the Swiss driver showcasing the same impressive pace he had in FP1 yesterday ahead of his car issues.
Ten minutes in the session, Jake Hughes has joined his teammate as one of the fastest drivers of the day so far. The fast Brit had led the first practise session of the year in Mexico City, raking up some good points in the race with a P7.
After a round of pit stops and setup tweaks, Cassidy, Vergne and lastly the Mahindra duo all take turns at the front, with ERT’s Sette Camara slotting in between Mortara, leading in 1:14.430s, and De Vries, who appears to be getting more and more used to the Gen3 car he drove in Mexico for the first time in a competitive setting.
As track evolution works its magic, Jake Dennis bolts at the top of the timings again with seven minutes to go in the session, signing a 1:13.680s. The Andretti driver was on an even faster lap, but he was caught in the traffic.
Buemi is another name consistently among the fastest men on track, and the provisional top three is surprisingly rounded off by Dennis’s new Andretti teammate Norman Nato.
After a strong beginning of the session, Mitch Evans is now lagging behind at the back of the top ten, opening up on a team radio about his lack of feeling and confidence to attack with the car.
In the final, heated moment of the session, once again, the podium is turned upside down. Nato holds the fastest time in 1:15.580s, followed by another last minute strike from Maserati’s Gunther and Dennis. Buemi and Evans round off the top 5, while both Nissan drivers are in the top ten.
See you later for qualifying in around two hours!
