F1 Saudi Arabian GP live commentary and updates - FP2

Several teams getting ready to release their cars from the garages in case there is a resumption, but that is looking increasingly unlikely. Kimi Antonelli isn't going to go out - he's not even in his car...

Well that scuppered Lando Norris's long run - he was three laps into that. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were also just three laps into a long run, George Russell just two. Oliver Bearman one...

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Replay shows Yuki tapped the wall on the inside with his front left as he negotiated the final corner. Not a massive hit, but enough to break the steering linkage and that sent him into the outside wall at the exit. 

We await the inevitable message in the FIA WhatsApp group informing us that the session will not restart.

Just Antonelli, Alonso and Stroll in the pits now. Everybody else doing long runs on mediums - or, in the case of Albon, on hards.

Come back later for Jake Boxall-Legge's long-run analysis, a piece of work underpinned by an Excel spreadsheet Williams would have been proud of.

Ocon propping up the order for Haas and not improving on this set of scrubbed softs. All three sectors yellow on his push lap .

Hadjar straight back in for a set of mediums. Colour us confused.

Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

So there you see, divergence isn't just an increasingly tedious series of films based on young adult novels.

Looks like we ere a tad premature in announcing the end of push laps since Esteban Ocon has just pulled out of the garage on softs. Tsunoda heading out on mediums, as are Gasly, Hulkenberg and Doohan. Hadjar also going out on softs, Albon on hards.

TV replays showing Piastri kissed the wall with his front left, but it looks like he escaped without damage since he's back out for a long run on mediums now.

That looks like a wrap for the qualifying simulations. Only Stroll out on track on softs now. Sainz has come out on mediums so just three cars running.

Norris goes fractionally faster than before, 1m28.267s. Piastri currently in the garage after bailing out of his last push lap. The only other drivers on track are Verstappen, Lawson, Bearman and Stroll.

All the soft-tyre runners on track at the moment are on tyres which have already gone through a push lap. Charles Leclerc has just improved to 1m28.749s but is still in P4 behind Norris, Piastri and Verstappen – who is currently circulating on scrubbed mediums.

Piastri looks like he's aborted his push lap - yes, to paraphrase Coldplay, sector one was all yellow on the timing screen.

Piastri back out on the same set of softs after a brief pit visit. Riposte coming?

Norris delivers his verdict on that Piastri laptime - he goes 0.090s faster to top the sheet with 1m28.340s.

Oscar Piastri rockets to the top of the timesheets with a 1m28.430s. Teammate Norris is now out on softs as well so in a minute or two we'll see what he's got.

Isack Hadjar reports that he has biffed the wall at Turn 4.

Mark Mann-Bryans is enjoying himself trackside - "You can really see how this is the fastest street circuit in the world when you head down to somewhere like Turn 23."

We're now into qualifying simulation territory. Everyone bar Norris (and Bortoleto of course) is on track, and on softs.

Max Verstappen now top on 1m28.547s.

Sainz o' the times! 1m28.942s for Carlos Sainz in the Williams to go top. But really that's because he's one of the first drivers to bolt on soft tyres and go for a relatively serious push.

Looks like eight or nine laps is about the limit of the 'long' runs so far. Oscar Piastri - who ultimately went faster than teammate Lando Norris on his run – did eight, as did Norris. Lewis Hamilton did nine before parking up. Pierre Gasly did eight but he was reporting brake issues - and is currently P12, rather humbler than his chart-topping performance in FP1.

Liam Lawson briefly up to P4 with a 1m29.522s, then bunked down to P5 by Yuki Tsunoda, who slices two tenths off his previous best.

Let's not get too excited about Lawson's lap since he was on the osft compound.

It is he! Charles Leclerc goes top on 1m29.002s. Fascinatingly, he did so without going purple in any of the three sectors.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Peter Fox - Getty Images

Yuki Tsunoda currently just 0.027s off Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen's fastest lap. Yuki fans will be saying "Stop the count!"

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Peter Fox - Getty Images

Oscar Piastri posts the second-fastest lap of the session, 1m29.273s.

Lewis Hamilton under investigation for impeding Alex Albon at Turn 18. TV replays indicate Albon had to take evasive action when he found the Ferrari dawdling on the racing line mid-corner.

That's a common issue at the circuit, where some of the sight lines are less than ideal.

Charles Leclerc also beats Verstappen's time, slotting into second with a 1m29.477s. He went purple in the final sector. There's a yellow flag at Turns 1-2 to cover Lance Stroll, who has gyrated under braking. Replays show his rear axle locking completely before he even gets close to the turn-in point.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Now Lando Norris goes top with a 1m29.27s lap.

Max Verstappen currently fastest on a 1m29.896s - set on his first flying lap on those mediums.

All signs are pointing towards this race being a one-stopper at the moment, despite Pirelli bringing tyre compounds a step softer than last year's allocation. This is a response to the first races of this season, where it has become apparent that the new C1 and C2 tyres are less prone to degradation than expected in some conditions. It wasn't possible to pivot earlier since the tyres go by sea freight.

BORTOLETO OUT OF FP2

Bad news for Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto. As the F1 TV footage has just shown, his car is in bits in the garage.

The team has released a statement: "Unfortunately, we discovered a fuel leak on Gabriel's car after FP1, which cannot be fixed in time for FP2. The cause of the leak is currently being investigated by the team. For this reason, Gabriel is unable to take part in FP2."

Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

Photo by: Lars Baron - Motorsport Images

And you may ask yourself, "What's been happening since the last practice session?" Well, immediately afterwards the Sky TV crew cornered Christian Horner and asked him about the "crisis talks" after last week's Bahrain GP.

There is a certain circularity to the media since our reporter Ronald Vording first reported that meeting last Sunday, since he happened to bump into Helmut Marko while the good doctor was on his way to it.

Naturally Horner denied that the team was in crisis – but, in the words of Mandy Rice-Davies, he would say that, wouldn't he?

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing, Helmut Marko, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

WELCOME BACK TO JEDDAH FOR FP2

Slightly more reasonable ambients greet the drivers in this second practice session for the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on the Jeddah Corniche circuit. This will be the most representative practice of the weekend since it kicks off at the same time as the race.