The start of the second practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was delayed 15 minutes as drivers and team principals gathered for a meeting in the paddock in view of the Jeddah fire. Some journalists in the paddock reported that several drivers have been left unsure over continuing with the race weekend.
As the session started, Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc went straight to the top of the timesheet with a 1:30.216, more than a second clear of Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz in second. However, while Ferrari and Mercedes appeared to be suffering severe porpoising problems, Red Bull were making their way up the straights with considerably less bouncing. Max Verstappen then took the top time away from Charles, by the smallest of margins: the Dutch driver put in a 1:30.214 to go 0.002s faster than the Ferrari, while the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez improved to leave the top four separated by just 0.146s – extremely tight.
Mid-way through the practice session at the Jeddah circuit, Kevin Magnussen pulled up on the side of the track and we had a Virtual Safety Car. Observing a replay of the Haas failure, the Sky Sports F1 team were speculating that another apparent hydraulics issue could have been triggered by Magnussen bumping the curb.
Ferrari’s perfect start to the season suffered a slight setback as Charles Leclerc hit the left side of his F1-75 car against the wall, reporting the car was “broken” after the incident. The Monegasque driver slowly made it’s way back into the pit lane but unfortunately the session was over for Charles after he damaged his Ferrari by clipping the wall. A similar outcome for Carlos Sainz, who also had a small moment with the wall and could not complete Ferrari’s scheduled programme for the second free practice session, which means that Ferrari does not have a lor of information about the long runs. Neither Charles Leclerc nor Carlos Sainz were able to return to the track after both touched the wall. However, Charles was still fastest with a 1:30:074 and Carlos ended the session in P3.
Just as the session appeared to be heading for a quiet end, Yuki Tsunoda had an engine failure and parked his car in sector 1.
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