Toto Wolff’s goal is clear: to put two W12s ahead of Max Verstappen. And Mercedes hit the target in the second free practice session of the Saudi Arabian GP. Lewis Hamilton was the fastest in 1’29 “018, time obtained with medium tires. The track in Jeddah offers a grip that the teams did not expect and they discovered that the asphalt, treated with high water pressure as in Turkey, overheats the soft tires so the compound begins to move, while the hard seems much more stable, at least with a reduced tire.
Valtteri Bottas, who tomorrow will have the engine with the maximum boost like Hamiltom in qualifying, today moved easily to second place with a gap of just 61 thousandths from the Englishman. The black arrows impressed on the flying lap while not squeezing the power unit, and showed an incredible pace even in the long run, a pace that Max Verstappen does not seem to keep with a certain regularity also because the RB16B had much higher fuel loads than aòòe Mercedes.
It is not surprising, therefore, that Pierre Gasly climbed to third place with the AlphaTauri which gave the sign of the potential of the Honda engine. The Frenchman is a sniper because he arrived at 81 thousandths from the top with the AT02, a sign that when Verstappen will mount the weekend engine and not the rotation one, he will at least be able to challenge the Mercedes in the qualifying lap.
The world leader, in fact, paid a gap of 195 thousandths from his rival for the world title: compared to the morning session, the Dutch unloaded the rear wing by adopting a main profile with an even more conspicuous spoon. Sergio Perez, on the other hand, has not yet found the pace: the Mexican has halved the gap from Max to half a second, but it is surprising that the young Yuki Tsunoda has placed his AlphaTauri in eighth place, ahead of the RB16B.
The Alpine confirms the good things in Losail: Fernando Alonso’s podium was not episodic because the Spaniard is fifth on the list of times, followed like a shadow by Esteban Ocon.
Charles Leclerc’s damaged car, Ferrari SF21, after the accident in FP2
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
And Ferrari? Carlos Sainz is seventh half a second from the top, while Charles Leclerc is only tenth. The Monegasque did not complete the session because five minutes from the end he slammed violently at Turn 23. After losing the rear during the long run Charles slammed first with the rear and then with the right side of the red that was quite demolished. The change of rotation has certainly been damaged and there are strong doubts about the power unir EVO (the Spaniard, on the other hand, had an old specification). The technicians will also have to analyze the body as Leclerc impacted the protections that was in sixth gear. The pilot came out unscathed from the cockpit and via radio apologized to the team for the mistake before being taken to the medical center for normal checks.
It’s a real shame because Ferrari showed a good pace in the long run: now everything becomes more difficult after Charles’s serious mistake which will cost a lot in the weekend’s economy.
The two McLarens are out of the top 10 with Danaiel Ricciardo always ahead of Lando Norris, while Antonio Giovinazzi, fifth in the first round, is 13th ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn learned the track having not been able to train on the simulator because Sauber did not have the new Arabian track!
Aston Martin badly with Lance Stroll 15th by a whisker ahead of Sebastian Vettel. Mick Schumacher slipped between the two Williams of Geotrge Russell and Nicholas Latifi. Last is Nikita Mazepin with the Haas: the Russian made a harmless spin and was able to restart without damage.
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