Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso took over at the top of the timesheets, beating Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen by more than two tenths of a second in the second practice session ahead of Saturday’s 2024 FIA Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
After losing out to Verstappen in the first hour of practice, Alonso powered to the top in Thursday evening’s performance runs to post a best lap of 1:28.827 that left him 0.230 clear of Russell, with defending champion Verstappen a further tenth back in third.
The start of the session was delayed by 10 minutes to allow officials to check drain covers in pit lane but once the session got underway there were no further issues.
Oscar Piastri was first out on track and the McLaren driver set the first benchmark at 1:32.956. He was deposed by Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu but then the Red Bull drivers emerged and both quickly rose to the top of the order.
Running Medium tyres, Verstappen set the pace at 1:30.447s before Sergio Pérez bumped his team-mate out of P1 by 0.020s, also on the C3 tyres. Alonso was also out on Mediums and the Spainard dipped below 90 seconds to take top spot with a lap of 1:29.846.
Verstappen’s second flying lap on the yellow-banded moved him to 0.051s behind Alonso, but the Aston Martin then went quicker again, stopping the clock at 1:29.560 to resume in P1 shortly before the quarter hour mark. Verstappen was also lapping again, however, and he jumped back to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:29.543.
Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas then sparked a switch to qualifying simulations and when Alonso bolted on a set of red-banded tyres at the 25-minute mark he once again went top on 1:28.827.
Verstappen couldn’t match that, ending up a sizeable 0.550 behind Alonso and that gap was filled by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc 0.353 off the Aston Martin and Pérez who found himself 0.473s off P1.
The parade of improved times was interrupted by a nervous moment for Logan Sargeant, who was forced to swerve at high-speed to avoid Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who was in the middle of the track in Turn 10. Hamilton was summoned to Stewards’ room after the session to explain the mishap.
Soon after, Verstappen went again on his set of softs and he improved 0.331s behind Alonso. Mercedes pair Russell and Hamilton then at last emerged on Softs.
Russell slotted into fourth with his first lap, with Hamilton in seventh, before the younger Mercedes driver went again and his second run put him ahead of Verstappen and 0.23s off Alonso with just over 20 minutes remaining.
That signalled the end of performance running as the field then switched to longer runs on more durable rubber.
Behind Verstappen, Leclerc sealed fourth with his best lap of 1:29.180, over as tenth clear of
Pérez. Lance Stroll was sixth in the other Aston Martin, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Hamilton. Pierre Gasly was a useful ninth for struggling Alpine and the top ten order was rounded out by who finished 0.767 off Alonso.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:28.827 28
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:29.057 0.230 24
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:29.158 0.331 27
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:29.180 0.353 25
5 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 1:29.300 0.473 26
6 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:29.336 0.509 27
7 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:29.455 0.628 26
8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:29.504 0.677 22
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:29.528 0.701 28
10 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:29.594 0.767 27
11 Yuki Tsunoda RB 1:29.666 0.839 28
12 Lando Norris McLaren 1:29.758 0.931 23
13 Zhou Guanyu Sauber 1:29.777 0.950 27
14 Alexander Albon Williams 1:29.789 0.962 28
15 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:29.901 1.074 27
16 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:29.934 1.107 27
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:29.985 1.158 24
18 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:30.077 1.250 26
19 Daniel Ricciardo RB 1:30.088 1.261 29
20 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 1:30.153 1.326 26