Charles Leclerc remained on top during second practice for Formula 1’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix before both he and Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz hit the wall.
Title leader Leclerc set a time of 1:30.074s to finish 0.140s clear of reigning World Champion Max Verstappen.
Several front-runners – including Verstappen – had their Soft tyre runs interrupted by a Virtual Safety Car period implemented when Haas’ Kevin Magnussen stopped due to a loss of power.
While Leclerc led the way on short runs he was unable to put in longer runs after clipping the inside wall on the entry to Turn 4.
Leclerc only glanced the wall but it was sufficient to cause damage to his Ferrari F1-75; he was able to limp back to the pits but took no further part in the session.
At almost the same time Ferrari team-mate Sainz ran wide through Turn 13, brushing the wall with the right-hand-side of the car, and he too returned to the pits and was out of the session.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was fourth-fastest, ahead of Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
Lando Norris provided some optimism for McLaren by finishing seventh, ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, while Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10.
Tsunoda was forced to halt his AlphaTauri AT03 in the first sector just as the chequered flag flew due to a mechanical issue.
The session itself was delayed by 15 minutes owing to incidents off-track.
The delay came following a major incident at a nearby Aramco-controlled facility earlier on Friday afternoon.
The Houthi rebel group, which has been fighting the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, claimed responsibility for the attack, which led to a large fire and black smoke billowing across Jeddah.
Aramco, controlled by Saudi’s government, has been a Global Partner of Formula 1 since 2020, with its branding featuring prominently trackside.
It is also the title sponsor of the Aston Martin team and the US Grand Prix.
Drivers and senior figures were called to a meeting in the paddock by Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, with FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem also in attendance, in order to provide an update shortly before the scheduled start of the session.
A further meeting is due to take place later this evening.
Position
Driver
Team
Time Gap
Laps
1
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
1:30.074
15
2
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
1:30.214 0.140
23
3
Carlos Sainz Jr
Ferrari
1:30.320 0.246
12
4
Sergio Perez
Red Bull
1:30.360 0.286
24
5
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1:30.513 0.439
24
6
George Russell
Mercedes
1:30.664 0.590
29
7
Lando Norris
McLaren
1:30.735 0.661
26
8
Esteban Ocon
Alpine
1:30.760 0.686
26
9
Valtteri Bottas
Alfa Romeo
1:30.832 0.758
14
10
Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTauri
1:30.886 0.812
26
11
Fernando Alonso
Alpine
1:30.944 0.870
27
12
Pierre Gasly
AlphaTauri
1:30.963 0.889
29
13
Mick Schumacher
Haas
1:31.169 1.095
27
14
Lance Stroll
Aston Martin
1:31.372 1.298
28
15
Daniel Ricciardo
McLaren
1:31.527 1.453
23
16
Nico Hulkenberg
Aston Martin
1:31.615 1.541
30
17
Guanyu Zhou
Alfa Romeo
1:31.615 1.541
27
18
Nicholas Latifi
Williams
1:31.814 1.740
26
19
Alex Albon
Williams
1:31.866 1.792
29
20
Kevin Magnussen
Haas
1:32.344 2.270
13
