Saudi Arabia Grand Prix – Free Practice 2: Norris ahead of Piastri and Verstappen

Understeer for all the cars, lots of traffic: everyone had to find their rhythm and space at the start of the second session. Everyone is on yellow tires, except for Alex Albon, who is running his first stints on white tires. A crucial session: it takes place at the same times as Saturday’s qualifying and the Grand Prix. Everyone is studying the conditions.

Norris and Piastri lead the others

Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc, and Max Verstappen take the lead at the very start of the session. Alpine shows up, like Williams, while Haas is trailing. Very quickly, it is the two McLaren drivers who stand out at the front. Norris strings together purple sectors and Piastri follows closely. They are even separated by a thousandth of a second for a few moments. The duel is already underway.

Behind, Leclerc, Russell, and Verstappen are trying to close the gap with the McLaren drivers, but without success.

Switch to red tires

At mid-session, the majority of the drivers switch to red tires. The objective: to reach qualifying conditions. It’s necessary to reduce the margin with the wall to gain performance. Once again, it’s Norris and Piastri fighting at the front. The two are neck and neck. The level of risk-taking is nearly maximal. Lando Norris pushes to regain confidence.

On the other hand, it is very complicated for Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time British world champion lacks pace and is ranked 13th after several stints on soft tires. His Monegasque teammate is more comfortable, ranking 4th behind the McLarens and Verstappen.

Williams continues to impress with both drivers in the top 10. The Grove team showcases engine power on this ultra-fast track.

Study the degradation

At the end of the session, the focus on tire work takes precedence over pure speed. With the heat, the question arises for the choice of starting tires. Start on softs, like in Bahrain last weekend? Or prioritize the mediums? The teams are monitoring tire temperatures and trying to stabilize them. This will be the key during the Grand Prix on Sunday.

The work is however interrupted less than ten minutes before the end of the session. Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull is stopped in the wall at the exit of turn 27. Red flag. The Japanese driver clipped the inside wall with his front left wheel, broke his suspension, and ended his run in the opposite wall. Loss of confidence for the new Red Bull driver.

The session resumes for less than a minute. The drivers come back out to perform their start procedures. Lando Norris takes first place (1:28.267) ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen. It’s worth noting the very interesting 5th place of Carlos Sainz, who is showing improvement. The next meeting is on Saturday at 3:30 pm for the third practice session.

The classification of Free Practice 2 of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix