Alonso puts on a speedy display in Saudi Arabian FP2

Fernando Alonso was fastest by two and a half tenths in FP2, holding his own against the likes of George Russell and Max Verstappen in the race and qualifying representative conditions in Saudi Arabia. 

The start of the second practice session was delayed by 10 minutes, allowing the Saudi Arabian track officials to check bolts that had raised concerns about loose drain covers in the pitlane.

When the session did finally get going, it was the McLaren duo who led the charge, with Oscar Piastri stopping to undertake a practice start at the pit exit.

All 20 cars were keen to maximise the qualifying-remnant conditions, instantly flooding the track as the lights went green.

The medium tyre was the popular choice to open the session, with a few drivers also opting to run the hard and soft compounds. 

The medium proved the quicker compound, however, with Sergio Perez claiming the opening benchmark of 1:30.438s.

After carrying too much speed into the first corner, Valtteri Bottas locked up, losing the rear of his Sauber which sent him spinning.

There was no damage to his car, however, his tyres were worse for wear as they were flat-spotted in the incident. 

Fernando Alonso began lighting up the timing sheets, setting two purple sectors to finish up nearly six-tenths up on the Red Bull driver.

Fernando Alonso during FP2 at the Saudi Arabian GP. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.

Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris soon accompanied him in the top three.

Traffic was an issue early on, with a very ill Sainz failing to spot a rapidly approaching Zhou Guanyu.

That incident was followed by a closer near-miss, with Logan Sargeant forced to take reactive measures to avoid contact with Lewis Hamilton into Turn 10, with race control noting the moment. 

Max Verstappen jumped to the top of the tables, outpacing Alonso by a slim 17-millisecond margin.

George Russell wasn’t happy with the handling of his W15, reporting of instability in the high-speed sections of the track. 

He found himself sitting in P9, while Hamilton was further back in P14.

15 minutes into the session, the majority of the drivers had returned to their garage, with just the Mercedes duo, RB duo and Piastri remaining out.

Piastri set off on a solid flying lap, going purple in the second sector, however, retreating to the pits before putting the time on the board.

Bottas joined Daniel Ricciardo as a soft tyre runner, setting the seventh-fastest time on his first run.

Alonso also opted to don the C4 tyre, unsurprisingly setting purple Sectors 1 and 3 to record a lap time of 1:28.827s, the fastest overall. 

Leclerc promoted himself to second fastest, however, still over three-tenths behind the Spaniard.

Charles Leclerc during FP2 at the Jeddah Street Circuit. Image: Steven Tee / LAT Images.

The second running Aston Martin attempted to match his teammate as he slotted into P3, but just like Leclerc, still at a significant margin. 

Norris reported that he was having “too much bottoming still” in his MCL38, with the #4 holding the eighth fastest time at the halfway mark of FP2.

Sargeant’s messy FP2 continued, with the Williams driver taking too much kerb yet again at Turn 10, seeing dust and sparks spraying from the #2’s car.

He sat over a second off the pace with 30 minutes remaining.

Traffic impediments continued, with Fernando Alonso having to avoid Charles Leclerc through the high-speed Turn 10 section, and George Russell being squeezed by Tsunoda and an entourage of drivers as he attempted a flying lap.

The Mercedes driver recovered on the following lap to go second fastest, just over two-tenths behind the Aston Martin driver. 

Sainz had remained on the medium compound tyre for the first 40 minutes of the session, only making the switch to the soft tyre in the final third of the session.

The ill Spaniard, following an impeding moment of his own in which he was forced to back out due to a slow-moving McLaren, promoted himself to P7. 

As for the papaya cars, Piastri found himself just within the top half of the order in P10, with Norris almost two-tenths behind in P12. 

Lando Norris during FP2 at the Saudi Arabian GP. Image: Mark Sutton / Sutton Images.

Our other Australian was much further back in the pack, with Ricciardo all the way in P19, 1.2 seconds off the pace.

His teammate was further ahead, splitting the McLarens in P11.

Pierre Gasly found his Alpine in the top ten, sitting as high as P8 at one point with a fastest time of  1:29.528s.

Esteban Ocon was unsurprisingly further down the order, sitting in P15 on the medium compound.

In the final 10 minutes of the session, times were no longer improving as drivers opted for the medium tyre.

Hamilton jumped on the radio to say that he couldn’t stop the rear of his Mercedes from sliding, before later losing power and retreating to the pits. 

Lance Stroll, sitting in a positive P6, was shown the black and white flag for failing to follow the Race Director’s instructions.

The Canadian cut the pit entry line before being reminded by his team.

Ricciardo was one to remain on the soft tyre, trying to improve from P19, but, failing. 

As the final seconds ticked down, it was Fernando Alonso who held the fastest time of the session, leading over George Russell and Max Verstappen in the qualifying and race representative conditions.

The field will have one more practice session tomorrow, albeit under the Saudi Arabian sun, before fighting it out for front-row glory in an expectedly tight qualifying session around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. 

FP3 will kick off at 12:30 AM, tomorrow morning, AEST, followed by qualifying at 4:00 AM, AEST.

Free Practice 2 Results:

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