Fernando Alonso went fastest in Free Practice 2 in Saudi Arabia as other drivers struggled with traffic issues.
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Alonso set a lap that would definitely put a smile on the Spaniard of 1:28.827, faster than George Russell in second by 0.230. After topping FP1, Max Verstappen found himself third, 0.331 off Alonso.
Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez followed in fourth and fifth with Lance Stroll following behind in sixth. Lewis Hamilton was seemingly struggling with the Mercedes rear and could only go eighth fastest. just beaten by Sainz in seventh.
With 5 minutes remaining, Hamilton complained about losing power following a fast lap which was called off early after a balance issue made him go wide in turn 22.
Alpine finally have something to at least smirk at as Pierre Gasly slotted into the top 10 in ninth just ahead of Piastri in tenth. The top 10 was covered by 0.767 seconds.
If an F1 track was a hero, the drain covers would be the villain. Possible loose bolts on drain covers in the pit lane caused a 10 minute delay to FP2.
This would be the first and only time the teams could practice in conditions that would represent both the race and qualifying. Dark surroundings and cooler temperatures.
Traffic issues have littered the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Logan Sargeant came dangerously close to colliding with an idle Hamilton who had planted his Mercedes in the middle of turn 11 whilst the American was on a lap.
Sargeant made his feelings clear over his radio message calling Hamiltons movement “too dangerous.” The 7x champion said on his own radio: “I didn’t realise someone was on a lap. I was trying to get out of the way for Sainz and all of a sudden there was a Williams there.” He raised an apologetic hand.
The incident will be investigated after the session.
The other Mercedes of Russell experienced his own traffic problems, again, coming scarily close to Yuki Tsunoda this time. He exclaimed his distaste for the event using two words, one being profanity, the other being Tsunoda. You could guess what it was.
Valtteri Bottas had an early spin just under 5 minutes into the session. The Finn in his ‘can’t-miss’ green Stake car lost the rear into turn 1, landing him in the runoff area facing the wrong way.
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