Norris quickest in FP2 as McLaren seal 1-2 in Jeddah

Lando Norris led the way under the lights in Jeddah, setting the pace as McLaren sealed a 1-2 in a disrupted FP2 that ended early due to a late Red Flag.

Under race-representative conditions, Free Practice 2 was by far the most important practice session of the weekend, making it no surprise to see the pitlane well and truly alive as the light went green.

After finishing just shy of the top three during the opening session, Oscar Piastri kicked off his FP2 campaign by conducting a practice start at the pit exit, before leading his teammate around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit to start the late-night running.

On the medium tyre, the Australian wasn’t able to match Lando Norris’ initial attempt, crossing the line over a second slower than his McLaren teammate before settling into P4.

Launching again, Piastri made some major improvements across the lap to sit just one millisecond behind his teammate, before outpacing him on his next tour of the 27 corners to slot into the top spot. 

Reclaiming P1 as he started his soft tyre runs, Piastri set a new benchmark of 1:28.430s, over a tenth clear of Max Verstappen as he started a necessary double cooldown lap.

Whilst doing so, Norris got the jump on the #81, edging ahead by just nine-hundredths of a second.

To end his low-fuel run, Piastri had a scrappy final lap that saw him alerting his team of contact with the wall for the second time on Friday, prompting a return to the pitlane. 

The Australian rejoined the final moments of FP2 on the medium compound, lapping as the second fastest driver before a late Red Flag brought the session to an end.

Taking inspiration from his teammate’s fastest pace in FP1, Jack Doohan edged his way into the top five to start his hour of track action, recording a time of 1:30.167s.

He shaved another tenth off his fastest lap time, however, Doohan slipped down the order as a short-lived lull fell over the circuit.

The Australian rejoined the session on the soft compound tyre, looking to improve from P18 as one of the last drivers to launch.

Riding the kerb at Turn 9 hurt Doohan’s attempt, leaving him 1.5 seconds off the pace as he returned to the Alpine garage.

Rounding out FP2 on the medium compound, Doohan emerged from the pitlane with 15 minutes on the clock, lapping faster than the Ferrari and Red Bull.

His run plan was brought to a premature end thanks to Yuki Tsunoda’s late crash, leaving Doohan as the 17th fastest driver on track as he eyed down a final practice start once the track had been cleared.

Having missed a decent chunk of practice earlier this evening, Liam Lawson completed five laps before returning to the pitlane once again, carrying a reprimand from his meeting with the stewards regarding his failure to follow the Race Directors’ instructions. 

The Kiwi rejoined the session ten minutes later as the first driver to transition to the soft compound tyre, jumping from P17 to P4 with a time of 1:29.522s.

RB’s ulterior run plan saw the Kiwi ducking back into the pitlane as his competitors took on the same red-marked challenge, returning with 25 minutes on the clock and with a fresh set of soft tyres at the ready.  

Sitting in P14, the RB driver didn’t improve on his lap time, remaining 1.2 seconds off the pace as he soon switched to the medium compound.

The Kiwi managed to complete three laps on the yellow-marked compound before yellow flags in Sector 3 ultimately brought the session to a close, only allowing for one out-lap ahead of the field’s practice starts on the grid.

As for the rest of the field, Lando Norris again dominated the early timing sheets, claiming the initial benchmark of the session, a 1:29.272s, ahead of the Ferrari and Red Bull duo.

Ultimately, it was Charles Leclerc who claimed the fastest time on the medium compound tyre, putting together a steady lap that placed him almost two-tenths ahead of the McLaren duo.

Not quite as fortunate on the steady front was Lance Stroll who was eternally grateful for the large run-off area at the first turn after he spun out under braking, taking a pause under yellow flags before resuming his session.

Further down the road, traffic was becoming a “dangerous” issue through the narrow high-speed corners, with Alex Albon forced to dodge Lewis Hamilton at Turn 18 in a moment that was noted by the stewards, while Fernando Alonso claimed he had to overtake “26 cars” on his initial run.

As the session neared the halfway mark, the soft tyre runs began to unfold, with the previous top times instantly losing their charm as Max Verstappen opened the red-marked stint with a time of 1:28.547s.

Ultimately, the Red Bull driver couldn’t outpace the quicker McLaren duo, especially after Norris scored the fastest opening sector on his way to setting a new benchmark of 1:28.340s.

The McLaren driver ended the low-fuel runs as the fastest driver, with Carlos Sainz the only outlier in the top five, sitting ahead of both Yuki Tsunoda and George Russell.

In the final 15 minutes, the field returned to the medium compound tyre, upping the fuel levels before a late Red Flag brought programming to a halt.

Yellow flags at the final corner were quickly upgraded to a full Red Flag when Yuki Tsunoda found his Red Bull crumpled in the concrete barriers at Turn 27, having made contact with the wall at the apex of the rare slow-speed corner before ending his session there. 

The final eight minutes of the session ticked down under the Red Flag, with clean-up efforts completed with just one minute remaining, allowing drivers to hurry out of the pitlane to complete one out-lap before lining up on the grid for their practice starts.

Setting their sights on the first competitive session in 24 hours’ time, the grid will have just one more practice session to perfect their set-ups before the all-important Qualifying Session takes place, with FP3 kicking off at 23:30 AEST.

Image: McLaren

Free Practice 2 Results:

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