Max Verstappen also finished the second session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as the fastest. The Red Bull Racing driver stayed ahead of Fernando Alonso and Sergio Pérez completed the top three. Ferrari was very disappointing, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz only finished in ninth and tenth place. To make matters worse, the Monegask also reported a problem with the engine. De Vries ended the day on P17.
Alonso was the first on track and many drivers immediately followed his image. Verstappen also visited the asphalt of the Jeddah Street Circuit almost immediately. Only Pérez was still inside. Sainz was the first to set a time with a 1.31.080. Alonso drove behind his compatriot on track and had to admit 0.3 seconds. Both Spaniards set their times on the medium tyre.
They were only preliminary firing, because the fast times followed each other in rapid succession. Verstappen was the first to improve Sainz’s time, before Alonso managed to dive under the Red Bull driver’s time again. That time also did not last long and after Pérez it was Verstappen again who put his RB19 on P1. The reigning world champion went a fraction faster in the next fast lap and after twenty minutes he was at the top with a 1.29.952.
Verstappen and Pérez alternate in the lead, Ferrari is disappointing
After half an hour it was time for the runs on the soft tyre. Many drivers managed to improve their time, but only Pérez was able to successfully attack Verstappen’s time on the medium tyre, albeit marginally. It was up to Verstappen to answer and the Dutchman did so a little later. The world champion opened with a purple first sector and then scored a green second sector. In the third sector he was somewhat behind his time on the medium band, but nevertheless he improved the fastest time by almost three tenths (1.29.603).
Alonso again seems to be Red Bull’s biggest challenger. The Spaniard managed to settle between the two drivers of the Austrian team at 0.2 seconds from Verstappen. In any case, the competition does not seem to come from Ferrari, because both drivers are clearly having a hard time in Jeddah. With twenty minutes left on the clock, Leclerc and Sainz were in ninth and tenth place, 0.7 and 0.9 seconds behind Verstappen respectively.
Leclerc reports another problem, Mercedes is also short
The problems piled up as the session progressed, because after leaving the pit lane the SF-23 hardly seems to move forward. The Monegask immediately asks his team whether he has full power or whether there is a problem. His engineer says he saw nothing suspicious and so Leclerc was able to continue on his way. Later, the Monegask again doubts whether his engine is functioning optimally, but according to his team nothing seems to be wrong.
At Mercedes it doesn’t seem to be as dramatic as at Ferrari, but George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were also not at the front of the time list. Hamilton in particular seems to be having a hard time at the Jeddah Street Circuit. The seven-time world champion failed to put the W14 in the top ten, while Russell was fifth fastest.
Ultimately, no one could match Verstappen’s time and the RB19 also looked strong in the long runs. Alonso and Pérez followed more than two-tenths behind the Dutchman. Esteban Ocon surprisingly put the Alpine in fourth place, ahead of Russell. Ferrari finished in the top ten with both drivers, just before Hamilton who finished eleventh.
