Alonso concludes in the head free practice 2 of the GPSaudi Arabia on the circuit of Jeddah. The Spaniard from Aston Martin preceded Russell e Verstappen. Fourth half for Leclerc and seventh for the other Ferrari of Sainz. In terms of race pace, however, the Red Bulls and especially Verstappen still seem uncatchable. Below, the analysis of everything that happened during the session.
Free practice 2 Jeddah: Alonso leads, but Verstappen is always there
Jeddah and Sakhir are two very different tracks and Aston Martin, which struggled especially in the race in Bahrain, seems more competitive in Saudi Arabia. Alonso he closed the second free practice session in command: another top 3 after the FP1 of the morning. Also Stroll, sixth at the finish line, set interesting times.
However, the favorites to win remain there Red Bull e Verstappen. The world champion, first in the morning, finished this second session in third place and seemed the most promising in terms of race pace. Victory is still firmly in his hands. And his closest rival seems to be his teammate Perez, who here in Jeddah took the first pole of his career in 2022 and won in 2023. The Mexican finished in fifth place and also convinced in the race pace simulation with the yellow tyre.
Free practice 2 Jeddah: Ferrari solid, problems for Hamilton
La Ferrari, second force in Bahrain, has no intention of handing over the role to other teams this weekend. Leclerc set the fourth best time, while Sainz (still not 100% due to high fever) finished seventh. On race pace, then, despite running with a compound advantage, Leclerc's times seemed promising.
Two-sided session, however, for the Mercedes. Russell, after having complained for a long time about the poor stability of the car, set the second best time behind Alonso. On the other side of the garage, however, Hamilton had a complicated session. First, the number 44 was the protagonist of a dangerous game impeding towards Sargeant (he got away with a warning and a fine for Mercedes), then complained about a loss of power at the end.
As for the other teams, Norris complained of bottoming and finished in 12th place, while Alpine he had a better session than usual in this 2024 that started out like a nightmare, with gasly ninth and Or with 15th. Below is the complete top 10: Alonso, Russell, Verstappen, Leclerc, Perez, Stroll, Sainz, Hamilton, Gasly, Piastri.
The appointment is tomorrow at 14:30 for the FP3 and 18 for the qualifications!
