The sun has set over the Jeddah Corniche Circuit before the start of FP2 of the F1 Saudi Arabian GP.
The track conditions are now more aligned with expectations for Saturday’s qualifying session and Sunday’s race, likely making FP2 a more representative session for the teams.
Pierre Gasly was leading the way in FP1, sporting a gap of only seven thousandths to second-placed Lando Norris in the McLaren.
Green Light
FP2 of the F1 Saudi Arabian GP starts with several cars lining up at the end of the pit lane.
Esteban Ocon is the first one out, followed by his Haas teammate Ollie Bearman.
The duo is soon joined by the rest of the grid, with only the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoletto remaining in the pits.
All teams have chosen the medium tyre, except for Alex Albon, who is on the hard tyre.
After the first timed laps, McLaren’s Lando Norris is on top of the timing sheets, setting a time of 1:29.272.
Just ten minutes into the session, Lance Stroll triggers a yellow flag when his rear locks up, causing the Aston Martin driver to skid across the track at Turns 1 and 2. Fortunately, he halts in the runoff area.
Charles Leclerc clocks in at 1:29.002, moving ahead of Oscar Piastri to take the top spot on the timesheets.
After the first run, the drivers dived back into the pits to prepare for a soft tyre run.
Soft tyre run
George Russell is one of the first drivers out on the softs, and his lap puts him on top. His time is first beaten by Carlos Sainz, before Max Verstappen takes the number one spot, clocking in at 1:28.547.
At the halfway point of the session, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri beats Verstappen’s time by 0.117 seconds to take the lead of the FP2 session.
The top 10 are within a second of each other upon the conclusion of the soft tyre run in FP2 of the F1 Saudi Arabian GP.
Closing stages
As drivers launch into the long runs, there are no more position changes at the top.
Gabriel Bortoleto is the only driver who has not set a time. The Sauber team discovered a fuel leak before FP2 that they couldn’t fix.
With just 8 minutes remaining, Yuki Tsunoda crashes into the barrier at the last corner, interrupting the session with a red flag.
The session ressumes with only 1 minute left in this FP2 session, not enough time to set a lap.
The full standings and results for FP2 at the F1 Saudi Arabian GP:
- Lando Norris 1:28.267
- Oscar Piastri + 0.163
- Max Verstappen + 0.280
- Charles Leclerc + 0.482
- Carlos Sainz + 0.675
- Yuki Tsunoda + 0.696
- George Russell + 0.706
- Pierre Gasly + 0.839
- Nico Hülkenberg + 0.926
- Alex Albon + 0.953
- Kimi Antonelli + 0.975
- Isack Hadjar + 1.039
- Lewis Hamilton + 1.104
- Liam Lawson + 1.221
- Fernando Alonso + 1.395
- Ollie Bearman + 1.487
- Jack Doohan + 1.645
- Lance Stroll + 1.740
- Esteban Ocon + 1.752
- Gabriel Bortoleto – no time
