FP2: Alonso fastest during second practice in Saudi Arabia ahead of Russell and Verstappen

Fernando Alonso ended Thursday’s running at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on top after setting the fastest lap in second practice, leading the way from George Russell and Max Verstappen.

Following a 10-minute delay to the start of the session, the lights went green for FP2 in conditions more representative of those we’ll see in Saturday night’s race, after FP1 took place in hotter and more humid temperatures.

FP1: Verstappen leads Alonso and Perez during first practice in Saudi Arabia

Most cars were quick to hit the track under the floodlights in a busy start to the hour, but it wasn’t an entirely smooth start for some, with Valtteri Bottas suffering an early spin after locking up into Turn 1.

Elsewhere, the stewards confirmed that they will investigate a potential impeding incident between Lewis Hamilton and Logan Sargeant after the session, with the Williams having to take avoiding action after encountering the slow-moving Mercedes.

As the qualifying runs on the soft tyre came in, it was Alonso who set the pace on a 1m 28.827s. This time remained on top as drivers switched to long runs during the latter half of the session, with the Spaniard’s lap putting him 0.230s ahead of Russell.

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Verstappen – who had earlier set the pace in FP1 – slotted into third, ahead of Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez in fourth and fifth respectively. Lance Stroll added to Aston Martin’s productive session in sixth, though was issued with a black and white flag for a track limits infringement later on.

Carlos Sainz, Hamilton – who reported having no power in the final minutes – Pierre Gasly and Oscar Piastri rounded out the top 10.

Yuki Tsunoda ended the hour as the lead RB in 11th, followed by the McLaren of Lando Norris in 12th. Kick Sauber's Zhou Guanyu put himself into 13th place, just one hundredth of a second in front of Alex Albon in 14th.

Esteban Ocon claimed P15, with Sargeant in P16, while the Haas duo of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg were in 17th and 18th respectively.

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Daniel Ricciardo ended the day down in P19, with Bottas bringing up the rear in P20.

With the opening day of track action now complete, the teams will have an opportunity to look at their data before the third and final practice session takes place on Friday at 1630 local time, ahead of qualifying later that evening.