Lando Norris ended Friday practice on top at the 2025 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as he led a McLaren one-two in FP2.
Norris’ benchmark effort, 1:28.267s, was 0.163s clear of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, who had a nervy moment brushing the wall at the exit of the final corner at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
The second hour of running on Friday was scheduled precisely 24 hours ahead of Saturday’s qualifying session, making it a perfect moment to gauge where things stand.
Unfortunately for rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, he was prevented from participating due to a fuel leak on his Sauber.
The rest of the 19 runners, however, logged crucial laps to test their mettle ahead of Saturday’s qualifying session.
All bar Yuki Tsunoda, who, although he completed most of the session, triggered the Red Flag with just over eight minutes to go.
The Red Bull driver clattered the inside kerb at the final corner, sending his RB21 into the outside barrier as a result.
And unsurprisingly, McLaren was the team on top, but Max Verstappen could take solace in placing his Red Bull in third, 0.280s off Norris’ benchmark.
There were mixed fortunes at Ferrari with Charles Leclerc third and Lewis Hamilton languishing in 13th place, seven tenths slower than his team-mate.
Carlos Sainz led the line for Williams with a top-five result, whilst Tsunoda’s best time set before his incident clinched sixth, albeit four tenths slower than Verstappen.
George Russell was the best of the rest with Mercedes last time out in Bahrain, but wound up seventh fastest in FP2 and seven tenths off the pace.
After topping FP1, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly remained a top-10 candidate in eighth, with Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Williams’ Alex Albon completing the top-10.
Less than nine and half tenths covered the top-10 runners.
Jeddah is a fearsome circuit for any F1 rookie, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar acquitted themselves well, taking 11th and 12th, respectively.
Behind Hamilton was Liam Lawson, who continues to trail Racing Bulls team-mate Hadjar upon his return to the Faenza-based outfit.
Aston Martin had another session to forget with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll 15th and 18th, respectively, showing the AMR25 once again isn’t a points-scoring candidate.
Haas’ high-speed cornering issues plagued both drivers, with Oliver Bearman 16th and Esteban Ocon the slowest of the drivers logging laps, in 19th.
Meanwhile, Jack Doohan was approximately eight-tenths slower than his Alpine team-mate Gasly, down in 17th place.
The field spread at the end of FP2 was 1.752s across 19 cars.
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