[F1] – Good afternoon dear readers of FormulaPassion.it and welcome to the appointment dedicated to direct written of the second free practice session of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the second round of the 2023 F1 world championship.
Session in progress
19.15 – This is the complete ranking of these PL2. The top-3 is the ‘usual’ for this start of the season: Verstappen, Alonso, Perez.
19.10 – Satisfaction evident also in the Alpine house.
Strong session to end our Friday here in Jeddah. Good job, team 👏 P4 for Esteban and P6 for Pierre.
More to come tomorrow.#SaudiArabianGP #Alpine pic.twitter.com/3WY6wV1D33— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) March 17, 2023
19.05 – Red Bull still stands out in free practice at Jeddah, both in qualifying simulation and in that race. But Ferrari and above all Aston Martin seem to be in the game. Now starting simulations.
🏁 FREE PRACTICE 2 🏁
Max Verstappen dominates Friday in Jeddah! 💪#SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/SzU0utPhsK
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 17, 2023
19.00 – Checkered flag! Jeddah’s PL2 ends here. In the finale, Hamilton also shines a bit, running on 34.9 with medium tyre.
18.59 – 35.1 Sainz in the first lap on new yellows. Impressive Verstappen, back again at 35.0. And Perez on 34.6.
18.57 – Perez did very well with the averages used for 11 laps, still on 34.7.
18.56 – Curiosity in the rear: Sargeant and the two McLarens are the only cars currently on the track with hard tyres.
Back on the Hards for Oscar. 👊 #SaudiArabianGP 🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/3Y9K0NfYJM
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 17, 2023
18.54 – The Ferraris are getting worse: both Leclerc and Sainz on 35.5. Verstappen and Perez instead on 35.0 and 34.8. Then Max goes up the following lap to 35.4
18.53 – Leclerc also complains via radio, annoyed by the traffic. Positive indications among the mid-group teams for Alpine.
18.52 – Hamilton’s stint was quite disappointing, not very brilliant on the reds and now passing on the mediums.
18.51 – The Perez-Alonso-Leclerc trio did very well with the averages, which are always constant between 35.0 and 35.2.
18.50 – Only now a few steps back for Sainz: 35.5 in the last pass. Verstappen 35.1, but complains via radio about the gearbox, in downshifting.
18.49 – Mercedes seems further back. Russell with medium tire is on 35.4.
18.48 – Again on 35.0 Sainz, who is always at the same pace as Verstappen, with the same tire.
18.47 – Alonso and Perez in 35.2, Leclerc now 35.5, but is slowed down by a Williams.
18.46 – Sainz and Verstappen continue arm in arm 35.0 for both. Then Max goes up to 35.2.
18.45 – 35.2 for Leclerc with middle school. Better than Perez (35.4) and Alonso (35.3) on equal tyres.
18.43 – Sainz starts well, 1:34.9 with red rubber. Then it goes up to 35.2. Verstappen constant 35.1
18.40 – The race simulation phase begins: different tires for the Red Bull and Ferrari pairs. Verstappen and Sainz with the soft ones, Perez and Leclerc with the medium ones.
18.38 – Moment of quiet on the track: only the two rookies Sargeant and De Vries at the moment on the track.
18.36 – Let’s summarize the top-10
Verstappen
Alonso +0.2
Perez +0.3
Ocon +0.4
Russell +0.4
Gasly +0.5
Stroll +0.5
Hulkenberg +0.6
Leclerc +0.7
Sainz +0.9
18.34 – A smile also for Mercedes with Russell 4th, 4 tenths behind Verstappen. Hamilton, on the other hand, was bad, only 11th. All chronos are with soft rubber.
18.33 – It dates back, in part, to Sainz: he is now 9th, two tenths behind Leclerc. Also ahead of both Ferraris is Ocon’s second Alpine.
18.32 – Leclerc improves his time with the soft tyres, but is still sixth, 7 tenths from Verstappen.
18.31 – Verstappen returns to the lead, with three tenths of a margin over Perez. 1:29.603 for the reigning champion.
Our fastest man on track, @Max33Verstappen heads out for some more laps! 💪
Live blog 👉 https://t.co/dptwK93zpz#SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/iQziJW3tHZ
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 17, 2023
18.30 – Sainz falls, even 17th in the time classification. Meanwhile, Verstappen set a record in the first sector.
FP2 HALFWAY MARK
It’s a Red Bull 1-2 👀
Only 30 minutes of FP2 remain! #SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/74QtPFJZwn
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 17, 2023
18.29 – Hulkenberg and Gasly also close the lap, both with soft tires and both ahead of Leclerc. 4th place for Danish, 5th for French.
18.28 – Leclerc finally sets his qualifying time: 4th position for him, half a second behind Alonso on the same rubber.
18.27 – Giro also aborted for Verstappen, who is relaunching now, exactly like Leclerc.
18.26 – Thrill for Alonso and Sainz, who almost came into contact in their respective outlaps.
18.25 – The Ferrari drivers across the finish line: very slow Sainz, in 1:31.013. Fast lap instead aborted for Leclerc after an error.
18.23 – Pass to Perez command, with the soft. 1:29.902 for the Mexican from Red Bull.
18.22 – Alonso rises to second position with red tire: 1:29.985 for him. Double warm-up lap with red tires for the Ferraris.
18.20 – Rear section chapter: the McLaren crisis continues with Piastri and Norris who are 17th and 18th. The Magnussen group and, surprisingly, Bottas’ Alfa Romeo close.
18.19 – The waltz of the red tires begins now: Fernando Alonso inaugurates it.
18.18 – For the moment very significant gaps at the top: Verstappen has six tenths of a margin over Alonso. Leclerc 7th is even 9 tenths away.
18.16 – Halls of shots Verstappen: 1:29.952 for the Dutchman from Red Bull, always with yellow tyres.
18.15 – Impeding of a Haas that hindered Leclerc’s Ferrari, but it is difficult for there to be an investigation.
Charles 😭#SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/kCmsoZctFX
— Tami. (@Vetteclerc) March 17, 2023
18.14 – The first 12 classified are all with medium rubber. The top 10, from Verstappen to Sainz, are in the space of a second.
18.12 – Update of the top ten positions after 12′ of action on the track:
Verstappen
Perez
Alonso
Ocon
Albon
Leclerc
Gasly
Stroll
Hamilton
Sainz
18.10 – The ranking order changes again: 1-2 Red Bull, with Verstappen ahead in 1:30.058. Perez second three tenths behind.
18.09 – All the top ten in the standings right now are on medium tyres.
18.08 – Aston Martin and Red Bull are immediately back in front: Alonso 1st in 1:30.612, then Verstappen trailing by two tenths. Stroll 3rd, fourth and fifth the two Ferraris.
18.06 – 1-2 Ferrari in this start of PL2: Leclerc enters behind Sainz in 1:31.266.
18.05 – Second position for Fernando Alonso with Aston Martin, third for Hulkenberg’s Haas. Now Perez also enters the track, a yellow tire for him as well.
18.04 – Best time for Carlos Sainz after the first timed lap. 1:31.080 for the Ferrari driver, who is cruising on medium tyres.
18.03 – All cars on track with the exception of Sergio Perez. Everyone at work with medium or hard tyres. Nobody is using the soft tyres.
18.01 – Immediately almost all the protagonists on the track: already on the track the two Aston Martins and the two Ferraris, among others.
18.00 – Green flag! Jeddah’s PL2 begins.
17.55 – Five minutes to go in PL2. Great attention will be paid to what performance will be, especially in terms of race pace, given that the time is the one in which Sunday’s GP will take place.
17.50 – At Ferrari, however, in addition to the precautions regarding reliability, there was also development work: in fact, there have been introduced changes to the bottom, front wing and beam-wing.
17.40 – This is the analysis made by our Federico Albano than what was seen on the track in PL1.
17.35 – We are only at the second GP of the year, but the issue of reliability already seems crucial: Ferrari replaced the engines of both Sainz and Leclerc as a precaution; Red Bull instead replaced the ECU, battery and gearbox on the car is Sergio Perez.
17.30 – Let’s start our direct written starting from results of WP1. In front once again the Red Bulls, with Max Verstappen at the top.