FP2: Norris leads Piastri in second practice, Tsunoda suffers heavy crash
Lando Norris was the driver to beat in second practice for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as he topped the second one-hour session, beating his team-mate Oscar Piastri and the reigning champion Max Verstappen. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo reports on Free Practice 2.
Having ended up second behind the Alpine of Pierre Gasly in the opening session, McLaren's Lando Norris set the benchmark in the Friday evening’s second practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The championship leader moved his benchmark best down to a 1m 28.267s, while his team-mate Oscar Piastri finished 0.163s in arrears with reigning champion Max Verstappen a further tenth behind.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc set the benchmark on Pirelli's mediums, but he struggled to extract everything from the soft tyres, and ended up fourth fastest. His former team-mate Carlos Sainz took fifth following an impressive showing on the opening day.
Yuki Tsunoda looked strong all through Friday, but he finished the session in the barrier at the final turn after clipping the wall on the inside, breaking his suspension which sent him into the barrier on the exit.
George Russell had a quiet day to end up seventh, with Alpine’s Gasly, Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Albon rounding out the top 10.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli looked strong on the medium, but he finished down in 11th nearly a second behind, and his day ended prematurely as he made contact with the wall on the exit of the final turn.
The Racing Bulls Isack Hadjar finished 12th, while Lewis Hamilton, who won the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2021, endured a difficult session, setting only the 12th quickest lap.
Ferrari's seven-time F1 champion was follwed by Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, the Haas of Oliver Bearman and Alpine’s Jack Doohan.
Lance Stroll finished 18th having had a high-speed, 360-degree spin at Turn 1 in the opening phases, as he finished ahead of the second Haas of Esteban Ocon.
Reigning F2 champion and rookie F1 driver Gabriel Bortoleto suffered a fuel leak on his car, which meant that he spent the entire session in Sauber's garage.
