McLaren sets the pace: Norris is fastest in Fp2 in Jeddah

Lando Norris was fastest in the second session of the weekend, posting a time of 1:28.267. His teammate, Oscar Piastri, took second place just 0.163 seconds behind, securing a solid 1-2 finish for McLaren. Max Verstappen completed the top three, finishing 0.280 seconds off the pace.

Photo: Mclaren

The session began with a brief yellow flag caused by a spin by Lance Stroll, which fortunately caused no damage to his car. However, practice ended under a red flag after Yuki Tsunoda crashed, resulting in a broken front left steering column. Despite the incident, it's important to highlight Tsunoda's excellent performance throughout the day: he seemed much more comfortable with the car and achieved times very close to those of his teammate Max Verstappen.

At the start of the session, Sauber announced that Gabriel Bortoleto would be unable to participate due to fuel leaks detected in his car at the end of first practice. This forced the team to withdraw him from the second session for further inspection and necessary repairs.

During this second session, the McLarens once again proved to be the strongest on track, excelling both in qualifying laps and in race pace simulations. Although the gap to Max Verstappen's Red Bull remains, it is not as wide. The Dutchman, who had a difficult first practice session, managed to climb positions after the team resolved some of the issues with his car, placing himself within the top three.

Ferrari also showed good results, showing a fairly competitive pace heading into the weekend. In contrast, Mercedes, which had had a very solid first session, failed to maintain its performance in this second session and ended up being the slowest among the leading teams.

In terms of race pace, McLaren was clearly the strongest team, consistently posting laps in the low 1:34s to low 1:35s range. Behind them, Max Verstappen, the Ferraris, and the Mercedes were all lapping faster, in the high 1:35s, reflecting the Woking team's competitive advantage on long runs. This data reinforces the feeling that McLaren is arriving with very good pace, both on a single lap and in race simulation.

For Williams, there was a strong performance in this session: Carlos Sainz managed to break into the top five with a solid performance, while his teammate Alex Albon also stood out, placing inside the top 10. Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, once again showed a competitive Alpine and took eighth place, although his teammate remained quite far behind in the standings. Nico Hülkenberg also surprised everyone by placing his Sauber in ninth place, confirming a strong individual performance in the midst of a very busy day.

During the session, several drivers were at their limits, brushing or even touching the walls in different parts of the circuit. This layout, despite being the second fastest on the calendar, represents a real challenge due to its narrowness and the close proximity of the walls, which demands maximum precision. We saw clear examples of this, such as Yuki Tsunoda's crash, which ended up damaging his car as he pushed it to the limit.

Looking ahead to tomorrow's qualifying, this factor will be key. The drivers will have to find that balance between pushing to the limit and not compromising the car, as any mistake can be costly. Furthermore, the rookies have had more difficulties than in other races: the layout has demanded much more of them, and it shows in their performance. It will be essential for them to remain calm and not overdo it in their pursuit of the ideal time.