Fernando Alonso placed Aston Martin at the top in the second practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, ahead of George Russell from Mercedes and Max Verstappen, the winner of the Bahrain GP race. Alonso, a two-time Formula 1 champion, completed a lap that was almost a quarter of a second faster than Russell, and he was 0.331s ahead of Verstappen, who had the third-fastest time.
During the qualifying for the Bahrain GP, Alonso achieved an impressive sixth-fastest lap, which seemed to highlight the performance of the Aston Martin compared to its race pace. The team also demonstrated strong one-lap speed during the qualifying simulations in the FP2 sessions. Overall, the AMR24 appeared to be a more competitive option compared to the season opener a week ago.
Lance Stroll supported Alonso’s performance by achieving the sixth-fastest time, trailing his teammate by half a second. He was behind Charles Leclerc from Ferrari, who took the lead, and Sergio Perez from Red Bull, who secured the second position.
Perez displayed excellent productivity during the long runs in the final phase of the one-hour session. He completed 15 timed laps and showcased the competitiveness of the Red Bull car. Verstappen, the reigning world champion, also demonstrated strong performance during the race simulations. However, he encountered some difficulty with the RB20 in the final corner during his qualifying simulations, noting that the front end tended to “wash out.”
In the first five laps, all drivers used medium tires except for Leclerc, who opted for soft tires. Verstappen, Perez, Alonso, Leclerc, and Russell achieved respective lap times of 1m34.244s, 1m34.941s, 1m34.618s, 1m35.262s, and 1m34.221s.
Among the leading cars, Mercedes faced the most challenges during the long-run simulations. Russell’s lap times were competitive, but the number of laps he completed was limited. Hamilton, his teammate, had his run cut short when he reported a loss of power and returned to the pits. However, he was able to rejoin the track in the final minutes of the session. Hamilton ended up in eighth place in FP2, behind Carlos Sainz from Ferrari. The top 10 was completed by Pierre Gasly from Alpine and Oscar Piastri.
Piastri finished the session 0.767s behind the fastest driver, Alonso. Lando Norris from McLaren, who complained about excessive bottoming of his car throughout FP2, ended up in 12th place. This issue was audibly noticeable at high speeds.