Rand Norris scored McLaren’s teammate Oscar Piastri to the top spot in his second practice at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after the crashing red flag of Yuki Tsunoda.
Tsunoda cut open the inside barrier at the final corner, breaking the suspension on the left front of Red Bull, and caring for the outside barrier. He left unharmed, but with less than nine minutes left on the clock, there was no time to clear the wreckage and revert the session with more than the practice begins at the end of time. This left Norris at the top of the order with the best time of 1m28.267.
Piastri was 0.163 seconds slower with his sister McLaren, and after some adjustments in the garage, he attempted another flight lap with the same set of soft tires. However, the Australian abandoned the attempt after pounding the wall with the left wheel in front, but he had already set up a first sector slower than the original flying lap.
Max Verstappen has completed the top three more competitive than FP1. The Red Bull Racing Driver went from just 0.28 seconds to just 0.28 seconds in cool evening conditions. The track temperature has been reduced to below 100 degrees, a drop of 20 degrees or higher than FP1.
Charles Leclerc was 0.482 seconds off Ferrari’s pace, but his fastest time was set for the second time asked after abandoning his crude first lap with fresh soft. He placed him just ahead of former Ferrari teammate Carlos Instinct, who rapped Williams’ Jeddah Cornish circuit 0.193 seconds late.
The crashed Tsunoda was 0.696 seconds behind his teammate Verstappen and 0.416 seconds later than his teammate Verstappen when he left the destroyed RB21.
George Russell was 0.706 seconds away from FP1 pacesetter Pierre Guthrie’s seventh pace.
Nico Halkenberg was ninth in Sauber ahead of Alex Albon, who completed the top 10.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli ranked 11th over Isack Hadjar and Lewis Hamilton, looking at the stewards who allegedly thwarted Albon in their Super Fast Turn at 1.1 seconds.
Liam Lawson was 14th fastest walks after Fernando Alonso, Oliver Baerman, Jack Doohan and Lance. He began the session with a leak at the first corner after the rear axle suddenly locked.
Gabriel Boltreto did not participate in the session after discovering a fuel leak with the Ferrari Power Unit prior to the session. The Brazilian mechanic was unable to resolve the issue in time to participate in the only representative practice session of the weekend, leaving the rookie to mileage before Saturday.
