Charles Leclerc finished Free Practice Two top of the timesheets, ahead of Oscar Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda. The Scuderia Ferrari led the way in Free Practice One earlier in the day, as he aims for his first victory of the season.
Oracle Red Bull Racing were once again struggling for pace, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez down in seventh and eighth by the end of the session. It wasn’t just a poor qualifying run for the Red Bull pair either, they lacked pace in the long runs compared to others around them too. It was a good day for Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, as they continued to look better than what we’ve seen in recent weeks, with Lewis Hamilton in fourth and George Russell in fifth.
Carlos Sainz Jr. didn’t quite have the pace of his teammate and ended the day down in sixth. Nico Hülkenberg enjoyed an impressive session ending in ninth, with Fernando Alonso rounding out the top ten.
Daniel Ricciardo just missed out on the top ten, finishing eleventh but once again the Australian was quite far back from his teammate in the qualifying simulation runs although he more than matched him on the longer race runs.
Lando Norris didn’t get a soft tyre run in, so could only finish twelfth by the end of the session. Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly finished thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth respectively, while Valtteri Bottas was the lead Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber car.
Kevin Magnussen, who goes into the weekend on 10 penalty points and just two away from a ban, was down in seventeenth ahead of Alex Albon, Zhou Guanyu and Logan Sargeant.
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | TIME | GAP | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 1:15.906 | 29 | |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:16.098 | +0.192s | 30 |
| 3 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB HONDA RBPT | 1:16.286 | +0.380s | 32 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 1:16.297 | +0.391s | 29 |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 1:16.311 | +0.405s | 32 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 1:16.423 | +0.517s | 30 |
| 7 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:16.447 | +0.541s | 23 |
| 8 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:16.552 | +0.646s | 25 |
| 9 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 1:16.826 | +0.920s | 28 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:16.838 | +0.932s | 29 |
| 11 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB HONDA RBPT | 1:16.967 | +1.061s | 32 |
| 12 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:16.980 | +1.074s | 30 |
| 13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:16.991 | +1.085s | 26 |
| 14 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:17.008 | +1.102s | 31 |
| 15 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:17.064 | +1.158s | 32 |
| 16 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 1:17.088 | +1.182s | 28 |
| 17 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 1:17.129 | +1.223s | 32 |
| 18 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:17.135 | +1.229s | 23 |
| 19 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 1:17.606 | +1.700s | 28 |
| 20 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:17.848 | +1.942s | 22 |
