FP2: Verstappen leads Alonso at second practice session in Jeddah

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F1 Grand Prix, GP Saudi Arabia, Jeddah Street Circuitsa

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen produced another ominous benchmark time to top second practice at the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, heading two-time world champion Fernando Alonso and teammate Sergio Perez.

After setting the pace in the opening practice, Verstappen continued where he left off earlier in the day, ending Friday 0.208s ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin and Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, who was 0.299s off in third.

Following a tough opening race weekend in Bahrain, Alpine seem to be able to bounce back in Jeddah where they displayed strong performance last year as well. Esteban Ocon, who served three penalties in the opening race, was the faster Alpine racer, finishing the session in P4 only four tenths of a second behind Verstappen.

His new team mate Pierre Gasly set the sixth best lap time with Mercedes driver George Russell slotting in the Alpine drivers. The Briton started the day by struggling for sheer pace, but ended the day with a promising qualifying simulation lap and a reasonable race simulation run.

His seven-time world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton could only manage the 11th-best time, almost a full second off Verstappen as the seven-time world champion once again complained of a lack of grip in his W14.

Ferrari had a low-key appearance on the opening day at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Charles Leclercw, who will serve a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race after exceeding his allocation of electronic control units following two failures in Bahrain, ended up only in P9.

His teammate Sainz, who has also taken a new power unit as a precaution amid Ferrari’s reliability concerns, finished the second practice session a place behind the Monegasque, almost a second down on the pace-setting Verstappen.



Results

Pos.No.DriverCarTimeGapLaps
11Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Honda Rbpt1:29.60329
214Fernando AlonsoAston Martin Aramco Mercedes1:29.811+0.208s26
311Sergio PerezRed Bull Racing Honda Rbpt1:29.902+0.299s26
431Esteban OconAlpine Renault1:30.039+0.436s27
563George RussellMercedes1:30.070+0.467s27
610Pierre GaslyAlpine Renault1:30.100+0.497s28
718Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco Mercedes1:30.110+0.507s27
827Nico HulkenbergHaas Ferrari1:30.181+0.578s27
916Charles LeclercFerrari1:30.341+0.738s28
1055Carlos SainzFerrari1:30.592+0.989s29
1144Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:30.599+0.996s27
124Lando NorrisMclaren Mercedes1:30.721+1.118s27
1322Yuki TsunodaAlphatauri Honda Rbpt1:30.776+1.173s30
1423Alexander AlbonWilliams Mercedes1:30.810+1.207s27
1520Kevin MagnussenHaas Ferrari1:30.820+1.217s25
1624Zhou GuanyuAlfa Romeo Ferrari1:30.837+1.234s27
1721Nyck De VriesAlphatauri Honda Rbpt1:30.921+1.318s29
182Logan SargeantWilliams Mercedes1:30.959+1.356s30
1981Oscar PiastriMclaren Mercedes1:30.964+1.361s26
2077Valtteri BottasAlfa Romeo Ferrari1:31.052+1.449s30