Friday Report - Norris leads as Tsunoda crashes late

Lando Norris
© McLaren

Lando Norris bounced back from a subdued Bahrain weekend to top Free Practice 2 for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, as a late crash for Yuki Tsunoda brought the session to an early close.

The McLaren driver clocked a best time of 1m28.267s on soft tyres around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, edging out team-mate Oscar Piastri by 0.090s in an impressive one-two for the McLaren team. It came after Norris had narrowly led the early medium-tyre runs by just 0.001s, underlining McLaren's consistent pace over both compounds.

World champion Max Verstappen briefly took top spot midway through the session with a 1m28.547s, but ultimately ended up third after falling short on his second soft-tyre attempt, finishing 0.280s behind Norris.

Charles Leclerc led the Ferrari charge in fourth, four tenths off the pace, followed by a strong lap from Williams' Carlos Sainz. Tsunoda was sixth before crashing with eight minutes to go, planting his Red Bull-backed RB21 into the wall at the final corner and triggering a red flag that ended any further running beyond practice starts.

The crash overshadowed what had otherwise been a trouble-free session. Earlier, Andrea Kimi Antonelli clipped the same corner wall in a near miss and returned to the garage for checks. Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto did not participate after the team discovered a fuel leak that could not be fixed during the session.

George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg, and Alex Albon rounded out the top ten. Hulkenberg's lap, in particular, surprised many with the Haas driver showing competitive pace.

Traffic remained a persistent challenge on the tight, high-speed street circuit, with both Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton under investigation for allegedly impeding rivals. Hamilton endured a low-key session and finished 13th.

With McLaren emerging as the team to beat so far in Jeddah, all eyes turn to Saturday's qualifying to see if their momentum can continue — and whether Red Bull can close the gap.