FP2: Verstappen leads Alonso at second practice session in Jeddah

F1 Grand Prix, GP Saudi Arabia, Jeddah Street Circuit

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.