Norris tops Piastri after Tsunoda crash shortens second Saudi Arabian GP practice

Lando Norris bested McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to top spot in second practice at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after a red flag for a crashed-out Yuki Tsunoda ended the session early.

Tsunoda clipped the inside barrier at the final corner, which broke his Red Bull’s front-left suspension and sent him careening helplessly into the outside barrier. He walked away unhurt, but with less than nine minutes remaining on the clock, there wasn’t time to clear the wreckage and get the session back underway for anything more than practice starts at the end of the hour. This left Norris at the top of the order with a best time of 1m28.267s.

Piastri was 0.163s slower in the sister McLaren, and after some adjustments in his garage he attempted another flying lap on the same set of soft tires. However, the Australian abandoned the attempt after tapping the wall with his front-left wheel, though he had already set a slower first sector than on his original flying lap.

Max Verstappen completed the top three looking more competitive than he had in FP1. The Red Bull Racing driver was just 0.28s off the pace in the cooler evening conditions, with the track temperature having plummeted below 100 degrees F, a drop of more than 20 degrees compared to FP1.

Charles Leclerc was 0.482s off the pace for Ferrari, but his fastest time was set at the second time of asking after abandoning his scrappy first lap on fresh softs. It put him only just ahead of former Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz, who lapped the Jeddah Corniche Circuit 0.193s slower in his Williams.

The crashed-out Tsunoda was 0.696s off the pace and 0.416s slower than teammate Verstappen when he stepped out of his smashed RB21.

George Russell was 0.706s off the pace in seventh ahead of FP1 pacesetter Pierre Gasly, who was 0.839s off top spot at the end of the day despite complaining of braking problems before his qualifying simulation run.

Nico Hulkenberg was ninth for Sauber ahead of Alex Albon, who completed the top 10.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was 11th ahead of Isack Hadjar and Lewis Hamilton, who was 1.1s off the pace and will see the stewards after the race for allegedly impeding Albon at the super-fast turn 18.

Liam Lawson was 14th quickest ahead of Fernando Alonso, Oliver Bearman, Jack Doohan and Lance Stroll — who started the session with a spin into the run-off at the first corner after his rear axle suddenly locked — and Esteban Ocon, who was slowest of those who set a time.

Gabriel Bortoleto didn’t participate in the session after his Sauber team discovered a fuel leak in his Ferrari power unit before the session. The Brazilian’s mechanics couldn’t fix the problem in time to take part in the crucial sole representative practice session of the weekend, leaving the rookie down on mileage ahead of Saturday.