F1 Saudi Arabian GP: Norris leads McLaren 1-2 as Tsunoda crashes for Red Bull in FP2

Lando Norris led Oscar Piastri for a McLaren 1-2 in second practice for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which was red flagged for a crash by Yuki Tsunoda.

The Red Bull driver planted his RB21 in the outside wall of the final corner with eight minutes remaining, spelling an early end to the session as there was only enough time for the usual practice starts when green conditions returned.

It was the only major incident of an otherwise smooth contest in which McLaren reasserted its dominance. Norris had edged out his team-mate Piastri on the ferocious 6.1km Jeddah street circuit as the Briton was aiming to bounce back from a tough Bahrain weekend.

After surprisingly ceding the top spot in first practice to Alpine's Pierre Gasly, Norris and Piastri never looked like anything but the fastest two cars around Jeddah, with Norris leading the early medium runs from his team-mate by just 0.001s.

After 15 minutes Ferrari's Charles Leclerc upped the ante with a 1m29.002s on mediums, while Tsunoda and soft-tyre runner Liam Lawson also circulated the top five.

As the frontrunners switched to softs, reigning world champion Max Verstappen briefly grabbed top spot with a 1m28.547s, but the Red Bull driver was quickly demoted by Piastri's 1m28.430s.

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Norris responded in kind by beating Piastri's lap by 0.090s and then further finessing his best effort to a 1m28.267s on the same set.

Verstappen's second soft-tyre tour was better than his first but - 0.280s off Norris - still not enough to break up the McLaren hegemony at the front.

Leclerc was fourth, four tenths adrift, followed by Williams driver Carlos Sainz and the second Red Bull of Tsunoda, who was fourth tenths behind his illustrious team-mate before his crash. 

Russell, Gasly, a surprisingly quick Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and the second Williams of Alex Albon completed the top 10.

As often on the high-speed and blind twists on the Jeddah Corniche street circuit, traffic was a big factor, with both Verstappen and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton summoned to the stewards for allegedly impeding colleagues. Hamilton finished 13th after a low-key session.

Before Tsunoda's off, Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli clipped the wall coming out of the same corner, prompting a quick garage call.

Fellow rookie Gabriel Bortoleto did not take part in FP2, after his Sauber team discovered a fuel leak that could not be repaired in time.

F1 Saudi Arabian GP - FP2 results

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	21	1'28.267		S	251.808
2	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	22	+0.163 1'28.430	0.163	S	251.344
3	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	23	+0.280 1'28.547	0.117	S	251.012
4	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	22	+0.482 1'28.749	0.202	S	250.441
5	C. Sainz Williams	55		Williams	Mercedes	24	+0.675 1'28.942	0.193	S	249.897
6	Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing	22		Red Bull	Red Bull	19	+0.696 1'28.963	0.021	S	249.838
7	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	21	+0.706 1'28.973	0.010	S	249.810
8	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	22	+0.839 1'29.106	0.133	S	249.437
9	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27		Sauber	Ferrari	21	+0.926 1'29.193	0.087	S	249.194
10	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	23	+0.953 1'29.220	0.027	S	249.119
11	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	16	+0.975 1'29.242	0.022	S	249.057
12	I. Hadjar RB	6		RB	Honda	17	+1.039 1'29.306	0.064	S	248.879
13	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	23	+1.104 1'29.371	0.065	S	248.698
14	L. Lawson RB	30		RB	Honda	22	+1.221 1'29.488	0.117	S	248.372
15	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	18	+1.395 1'29.662	0.174	S	247.890
16	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	19	+1.487 1'29.754	0.092	S	247.636
17	J. Doohan Alpine	7		Alpine	Renault	21	+1.645 1'29.912	0.158	S	247.201
18	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	18	+1.740 1'30.007	0.095	S	246.940
19	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	22	+1.752 1'30.019	0.012	S	246.907
20	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5		Sauber	Ferrari	0
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