In the most crucial training hour for drivers and teams of the GP Saudi Arabia, McLaren flexes its muscles: Lando Norris is the fastest, followed by teammate Oscar Piastri. However, Max Verstappen is not far behind.
The time for experimentation, as Red Bull did earlier in the afternoon in the scorching desert heat, is over. For all teams, the second training session is one that counts and also indicates where the cars stand. It is the only one of the three training hours that corresponds to the conditions in the qualification and race: these events are also scheduled in the evening under artificial light and with cooler temperatures.
Just before the start, Gabriel Bortoleto receives bad news. The Brazilian newcomer at Stake F1 doesn’t even need to put on his racing suit. A technical problem (fuel leak) has been detected in his car that cannot be repaired in time.
As expected, the start of the session is busy: a queue forms for the traffic light that turns green at 20:00 local time. Every second of VT3 is utilized. The traffic on the track leads to quite a few irritations: Lando Norris accuses a Red Bull driver of hindrance (‘why does nobody listen to the radio?’), Alex Albon describes a maneuver by Lewis Hamilton as ‘very dangerous’ (the race management initiates an investigation into the seven-time world champion) and Lance Stroll is lucky to keep his Aston Martin AMR25 on the track in turn 1 after a high-speed spin.
When the first qualification simulations are scheduled halfway through, Max Verstappen sets the tone. Oscar Piastri quickly dives more than one and a half tenths under it in the McLaren, Norris then goes a bit faster. The Brit, in turn, is another one and a half tenths faster than colleague Piastri. No changes occur in this order during the rest of the session. Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari concedes almost half a second to Norris and finishes fourth, just ahead of Carlos Sainz (Williams) and Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull), who due to a steering error and crash in the final phase costs his colleagues almost ten minutes of training time.
