FP2: Norris tops the times during second practice in Saudi Arabia as Tsunoda crashes

McLaren driver Lando Norris finished Friday evening’s second practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix fastest, with a crash for Yuki Tsunoda bringing out the red flags in the closing stages.

Having just missed out on top spot in Free Practice 1, Drivers’ Championship leader Norris hovered towards the top of the times throughout FP2, which was held in the cooler, more representative evening conditions.

READ MORE: Gasly sets the pace from Norris and Leclerc during first practice in Saudi Arabia

Norris moved to the top on the medium tyre in the opening minutes, his 1m 29.272s just fractions shy of Pierre Gasly’s session-best from FP1, which the Alpine driver achieved on the soft rubber.

Oscar Piastri moved to within 0.001s of his McLaren team mate, also with the help of the medium tyre approaching the 15-minute mark, with Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari best of the rest more than two-tenths further back.

Traffic became an issue for many on the high-speed circuit, with Norris notably held up by Max Verstappen and commenting on his radio, “why does no one use radios at all?” Meanwhile Alex Albon was also impeded by Lewis Hamilton, an incident the Ferrari driver has been called to the stewards over following the session.

Leclerc moved to the top approaching the 20-minute mark of the one-hour session on a 1m 29.002s before drivers switched to the softest tyre compound. George Russell was first of the leading runners to make the swap and lowered the benchmark to a 1m 28.973s after complaining of “some high speed bouncing”.

Times continued to tumble, with Carlos Sainz, Verstappen and Piastri all occupying the top spot approaching the halfway point in proceedings before Norris usurped them all with a 1m 28.340s.

HIGHLIGHTS: Relive FP1 from Saudi Arabia as Gasly claims impressive top spot

The Briton lowered the benchmark further on the red-marked tyre, moving his best down to a 1m 28.267s which would remain fastest until the chequered flag as drivers focused on long runs.

Piastri finished 0.163s in arrears with Verstappen a further tenth behind, as Leclerc headed Ferrari’s charge in fourth followed by an impressive showing from Williams driver Sainz.

Tsunoda claimed sixth but finished the session in the barrier at the final turn after the Red Bull driver clipped the wall on the inside, breaking his suspension which sent him into the barrier on the exit. The end of the red flag period left just over a minute remaining, with drivers scrambling out to take practice starts but not altering the order.

Russell, Alpine’s Gasly, Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Albon rounded out the top 10, with Kimi Antonelli down in 11th nearly a second behind after the Mercedes driver made contact with the wall on the exit of the final turn but escaped unharmed.

The Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson finished either side of Lewis Hamilton in 12th and 14th respectively, followed by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, the Haas of Oliver Bearman and Alpine’s Jack Doohan.

Lance Stroll finished 18th having had a high-speed, 360-degree spin at Turn 1 in the opening phases, as he finished ahead of the second Haas of Esteban Ocon.

PADDOCK INSIDER: Verstappen's Red Bull future proves a hot topic as Alonso and Russell reflect on their own plans

Rookie Gabriel Bortoleto suffered a fuel leak on his Kick Sauber machine, meaning the reigning Formula 2 Champion was unable to take part in the session.

Drivers and teams will next take to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit for Saturday’s final practice session, which is scheduled to take place at 1630 local time.