As in EL1, Max Verstappen was the fastest driver in the second practice session of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. But Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin is on the lookout.
The sun had already set and the Jeddah circuit was lit only by its huge floodlights when the second free practice session started. Since FP1 and FP3 are contested during daylight hours, these FP2s represented the only opportunity for the drivers and teams to test the cars in conditions similar to those of qualifying and the race.
Unlike the layout of Monaco, that of Jeddah is wide enough for an urban circuit. However, this did not prevent Yuki Tsunoda to rub the wall at the entrance to turn 22 in the first minutes. More fear than harm for the pilot Alpha Tauriwho was able to continue on his way.
The grid preferred medium tires at the start of the session. The rare men in hard rubber were, quite logically, at the bottom of the classification. Already in battle for the best time in EL1, the pilots Red Bull et Aston Martin resumed their fight from the first laps of FP2, this time swapping soft tires for medium compounds.
On form, Verstappen set the best provisional time in 1’29″952, four tenths ahead of Pérez and six over Fernando Alonso. Surprisingly, Lance Stroll where the Ferrari did not follow them: Pierre Gasly et Esteban Ocon were in pursuit of the top 3 by six and seven tenths behind respectively. To find the first representative of the Prancing Horse, you had to go down to seventh place with Charles Leclerc (+0″964), behind the Williams d’Alexander Albon. The situation was no better for Mercedeswith Lewis Hamilton ninth (+1″055) and George Russell eleventh (+1″425), behind Carlos Sainz.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23
Missing until then, the soft tires made their appearance after twenty minutes, on the Aston Martin of Alonso. The double World Champion was on a sufficiently good lap to take the best time but an error in the sequence of turns 22-23 prevented him from doing so. It was finally Pérez who dislodged his teammate with the red tires (1’29″902), but only temporarily since Verstappen did better a few minutes later (1’29″603).
Author of a cleaner lap than the previous one, Alonso then moved up to second place, two tenths behind Verstappen. The pilots Alpine surprised during the stints on medium tyres, they continued to surprise with the soft tyres: Ocon took charge of taking fourth place, less than half a second behind Verstappen, and Gasly sixth, behind George Russell. Followed by Lance Stroll, a Nico Hülkenberg surprisingly competitive with its Haas and… the two Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz. With the mediums as with the soft ones, the SF-23 struggle to shine in the night of Jeddah.
The last minutes were devoted to race simulations, with long runs on medium and soft tyres, so the lap times were not improved. Note that the top 6, made up of four different teams, is held in less than five tenths.