F1 News: Norris leads McLaren 1-2 in GP of Saudi Arabia FP2

Lando Norris in the superior #4 McLaren turned a lap of 1m28.267s doing a qualifying simulation run to lead Practice 2 for the GP of Saudi Arabia around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Oscar Piastri was 0.163s behind Norris in the #81 superior McLaren. That is less than a second off last year’s pole time. We have yet to see the best of Piastri – he has brushed the walls twice already.

Last year’s GP of Saudi Arabia winner, Max Verstappen, was third fastest, carrying the Red Bull RB21 sled on his back, 0.280s behind Norris.

Verstappen’s teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, trying to match Verstappen in the sister car, clipped the inside wall and plastered the outside wall, bringing out the red flag.

Charles Leclerc was 4th fastest in the #16 Ferrari, 0.482s behind Norris.

Carlos Sainz Jr. was a strong 5th for Williams, 0.675s behind Norris. Tsunoda ended up with the 6th fastest lap, 0.696s behind Norris.

George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg and Alex Albon rounded out the top-10.

Bortoleto missed the entirety of the only representative practice session, thanks to a fuel leak.

That is disastrous for the rookie, who needs as many laps as possible to build confidence.

Lewis Hamilton has been summoned to the officials’ office after impeding Alex Albon.  Hamilton was out to lunch once again, over 1-second slower than Norris and over 0.6s behind his teammate Leclerc in the identical car.

2026 GP of Saudi Arabia Practice 2 Results