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McLaren Dominates Second Practice at Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
In a compelling display of speed and skill, Lando Norris topped the timesheets in second practice for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, leading a McLaren 1-2 with teammate Oscar Piastri closely behind. The session was disrupted by a red flag due to a crash involving Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.
With eight minutes left on the clock, Tsunoda lost control of his RB21, crashing into the outer wall at the final corner. This incident halted the practice session, leaving just enough time for drivers to complete their customary practice starts once track conditions improved.
Despite the red flag, the session had largely progressed without significant troubles, allowing McLaren to reinforce their competitive edge. Norris, seeking to recover from a difficult outing in Bahrain, managed to outpace Piastri on the challenging 6.1 km street circuit of Jeddah.
After initially allowing Alpine’s Pierre Gasly to take the lead in the first practice session, Norris and Piastri’s dominance became evident as they consistently set the fastest laps. Norris posted his best time on medium tires, edging out Piastri by a mere 0.001 seconds.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc quickly raised the stakes, clocking in a time of 1m29.002s on medium tires just 15 minutes into the session. Alongside him in the top five were Tsunoda and soft-tyre runner Liam Lawson.
As the frontrunners switched to soft tires, reigning world champion Max Verstappen momentarily seized the top spot with a time of 1m28.547s. However, Piastri quickly reclaimed the lead with an impressive 1m28.430s.
Norris responded decisively, lowering his own best time to 1m28.267s, thus solidifying McLaren’s position at the forefront of the session. Verstappen was unable to match Norris’s pace during his subsequent laps, finishing 0.280 seconds behind him.
Leclerc secured fourth place, four tenths behind, followed by Carlos Sainz from Williams and Tsunoda, prior to his crash. Rounding out the top ten were George Russell, Gasly, a notably swift Sauber driven by Nico Hulkenberg, and Alex Albon in the second Williams.
In this high-speed environment, traffic became a critical factor, with both Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton being called to the stewards for alleged impeding of other drivers. Hamilton concluded the session in 13th, having had a relatively quiet performance.
Before Tsunoda’s incident, Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli had a minor scrape with the barriers at the same turn, leading to a prompt return to the garage for assessments. Additionally, fellow rookie Gabriel Bortoleto was unable to participate in FP2 due to a fuel leak discovered by his Sauber team, which could not be repaired in time.
F1 Saudi Arabian GP – FP2 Results
The results of the second practice indicate a strong showing from McLaren, setting a competitive tone heading into the remainder of the race weekend.
Source
www.autosport.com