Lando Norris was fastest from McLaren team-mate Oscar Pisatri as Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda crashed in second practice at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The session was disrupted towards the end when Tsunoda hit the inside and outside walls at the final corner with nine minutes remaining.
Tsunoda finished sixth fastest behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Williams’ Carlos Sainz, but left his mechanics with lots of work to do on the front-right corner of the car overnight.
“I just turned in too much and clipped the wall with the inside wheel,” said Tsunoda, who is in his third race weekend for Red Bull.
“It had damage, and after that just no control. Apologies to the team. The pace was looking good, so a shame.”
McLaren remain the team to beat in Jeddah as Norris beat Piastri by 0.163s and looked more comfortable throughout the session, with the Australian one of several drivers who clipped the wall.
Max Verstappen was third and 0.280s off championship leader Norris but Red Bull are more competitive compared to Bahrain on a track where the drivers can make a big difference.
Leclerc finished half a second adrift and was a long way clear of Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who ended up in 13th and 1.1 seconds behind Norris.
Hamilton was investigated for allegedly impeding Williams’ Alex Albon through the high-speed first sector but the stewards deemed no further action was necessary.
Norris leads the Drivers’ Championship by three points over Piastri, with Verstappen eight points back, while George Russell is 14 points behind.
Russell could only manage seventh as Mercedes struggled to switch on the soft tyre, while first-practice pace-setter Pierre Gasly was eighth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Albon.
Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto did not compete in second practice due to a water leak.
Norris: I was hoping for a bigger gap
As has been the case all season, McLaren have the upper hand on the field but the chasing pack appear to be closer over one lap compared to Bahrain.
Norris, though, set his best time with his second flying lap on the softs, which suggests there is more time in the car.
“I think a pretty decent first day. It always just feels chaotic around here because it’s so fast. A lot of walls, a lot of near misses,” said Norris.
“It has really been a day of trying to be working on my driving, working on myself more than probably trying to work on the car, and me getting more confident.
“I think a good start to the weekend. Productive, gaining confidence, gaining feeling. So, from what I wanted to achieve today, I think on the right tracks.
“At the minute I would say we feel confident, but the others are not far behind. I probably was hoping for a bigger gap than what we had. We know we’re fast, we know we have a great car, but certainly not comfortable, not as comfortable as we would like.”
Red Bull are enjoying the smoother, high-speed Jeddah track and are McLaren’s closest challengers. However, Verstappen says there’s “quite a bit of work to do”.
“We tried some different things with the car, trying to find a different direction with it. We learned a lot from it,” said the reigning world champion.
“Still not where I want to be. Personally I don’t really look at the gaps. At the end of the day, you have to go with your own feeling and what you feel in the car. Over one lap it’s a bit better but the long runs were still very tough for us.”
Mystery remains around Ferrari pace
Some mystery remains around Ferrari’s pace because Leclerc was fastest on the medium-tyre runs but struggled with traffic before eventually going fourth fastest.
Hamilton has work to do and, with the top 11 separated by just one second, the seven-time world champion needs to close his six-tenths deficit to team-mate Leclerc.
Kimi Antonelli had a few scares throughout the session and Russell lacked genuine pace all Friday.
“A bit of a messy session. We didn’t get many laps in at the end,” said Russell.
“Definitely a bit worse off than we were in FP1 but I’m sure there’s nothing we can’t solve and come back stronger.”
“It’s [about] getting the most out of the tyres. We tried some different things, me and Kimi tried some different things which was valuable to try and learn.
“We got a bit of a direction from that. I was intrigued to see the long run pace but the red [flag] at the end, we didn’t manage to see that.
“But, I think it will be a close battle again for the next best team and hopefully we can try and sneak up there but McLaren look good again.”
Sky Sports F1’s Saudi Arabian GP Schedule
Saturday April 19
- 1.15pm: F1 Academy Race 1
- 2.05pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Three (session starts at 2.30pm)*
- 4.10pm: F2 Sprint
- 5.10pm: Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying build-up
- 6pm: SAUDI ARABIAN GP QUALIFYING
Sunday April 20
- 1pm: F1 Academy Race 2
- 2.20pm: F2 Feature Race
- 4.30pm: Saudi Arabian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday
- 6pm: THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX*
- 8pm: Saudi Arabian GP reaction: Chequered flag
*Also live on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 completes its first triple-header of 2025 in Jeddah with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime
