Fernando Alonso left Aston Martin at the top in the second free practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, ahead of George Russell from Mercedes and Max Verstappen (Red Bull), winner of the Bahrain GP race. The two-time world champion completed a lap that was almost a quarter of a second faster than Russell’s, and was 0.331s ahead of Verstappen, who had the third best time.
During qualifying for the Bahrain GP, Alonso impressed with the sixth fastest time, but the AMR24 showed to have a better qualifying pace compared to the race pace. In this FP2, the scenario was similar, but the car seems to be more competitive compared to the season opener a week ago.
Lance Stroll lived up to Alonso’s performance by taking the sixth best time, about half a second behind his teammate. He finished behind Charles Leclerc from Ferrari, and Sergio Pérez from Red Bull.
The Mexican was particularly productive in long distance runs, showing good competitiveness. The same applies to Verstappen, the current world champion. However, he had some difficulties with the RB20 in the final corner during qualifying simulations, feeling like he was losing the rear.
In the early laps, all drivers used medium tires, except Leclerc, who opted for soft tires. Verstappen, Pérez, Alonso, Leclerc, and Russell achieved respective lap times of 1m34.244s, 1m34.941s, 1m34.618s, 1m35.262s, and 1m34.221s.
Among the top drivers, Mercedes faced the biggest challenges during race simulations. Russell’s lap times were competitive, but he did not complete as many laps. Lewis Hamilton, his teammate, had his simulation interrupted when he felt a loss of power in the W15 in the final phase and finished in eighth, behind Carlos Sainz from Ferrari. The top ten was completed by Pierre Gasly from Alpine and Oscar Piastri (McLaren/Mercedes).The Australian finished the session 0.767s behind the fastest driver, Alonso. Lando Norris, also from McLaren, who also experienced some issues, finished in 12th place.
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