Max Verstappen tops FP2 timings charts ahead of Charles Leclerc

Leclerc in hot pursuit of Verstappen

The Dutchman was forever improving at the start of the session and managed to stay ahead of Leclerc throughout the whole hour. However, as FP2 went on, the Ferrari driver was able to slowly breach the gap set by Verstappen on every lap, finishing only 0.081 seconds behind as the teams switched to race simulations.

As for their teammates, Sainz was able to better Perez majorly, finishing third overall and only 0.225 seconds down on Verstappen in the lead. As for Perez, it was a struggling hour. The Mexican was struggling with his set-up compared to his teammate, as highlighted by Christian Horner on the pit wall, and finished outside the top 10 and over a second down, leaving people questioning what could happen tomorrow in qualifying.

Mercedes and Bottas stuck in garage at the start

Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Valtteri Bottas were all in the pits at the start of the session whilst the rest of the drivers made their way onto the track, but it was the latter that struggled the most and was unable to set a time. The Finn sat on the back wall of his garage for the majority of the hour, whilst Russell and Hamilton finished seventh and 14th respectively.

Alpine and McLaren head the midfield

Fernando Alonso was one of the shocks of the session, once again, as he found himself in the top five and looking competitive amongst the top three at points! The other shock was Sebastian Vettel, who finished the hour in fourth place, one spot ahead of his veteran friend! Vettel's teammate, Lance Stroll, finished 12th after running in the top 10 at some points throughout FP2.

McLaren looked like they could have a strong weekend and could be on course for more points, with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo holding the eighth and ninth spots, ahead of Esteban Ocon and behind Pierre Gasly in sixth and Russell. There were two close calls for Norris however, as he almost collided with Sainz in the pits after a dodgy release from Ferrari and was close to sliding off track after losing his rear tyres, but he was able to hold on and continue on track.

Quiet session for Tsunoda, Zhou, Haas and Williams

There's not much to say for the aforementioned drivers and teams, other than it was a quiet session! Guanyu Zhou beat out Yuki Tsunoda for the 16th spot, Kevin Magnussen beat his teammate Mick Schumacher again, finishing 14th and 15th respectively, and finally, Alex Albon beat Nicholas Latifi for the final spots of the session.