Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc wrecks his Ferrari as Lewis Hamilton leads FP2

Lewis Hamilton was quickest in the second practice session (FP2) for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, which was marred by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc ramming into the wall in the closing stages. This caused the session to be red flagged, bringing it to an abrupt end.

The seven-time world champion was followed by team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who clocked the second fastest time of the session, for a Mercedes 1-2. Alpha Tauri driver Pierre Gasly went third fastest in FP2.

The reigning world champion’s fastest lap was clocked at 1 minute 29.018 seconds, 0.061 seconds faster than Bottas and 0.081 seconds quicker than Gasly. Current championship leader and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen clocked the fourth fastest lap of FP2, and was only a tenth down on his title contender.

The top four drivers were within 0.195 seconds of the time bracket in a practice session which was interrupted by red flags towards the end. Traffic at the narrow Jeddah Corniche Circuit made it difficult for Verstappen to improve upon his lap time. His qualifying simulations remain unrepresentative of his true speed for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend.

Alpine driver Fernando Alonso clocked the fifth fastest lap of the session, followed by team-mate Esteban Ocon, who went sixth fastest. The Alpine duo were followed by Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, who clocked the seventh fastest lap of FP2.

Gasly's teammate Yuki Tsunoda clocked the eighth fastest lap of FP2, and was followed by Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Perez, who was ninth fastest.

Leclerc completed the top half of the grid, with the tenth fastest lap, until his shunt. The Monagasque driver lost control of the rear end of his Ferrari and crashed into the barriers at Turn 23, severely damaging his car ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

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2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend expected to be unpredictable

While traffic issues were expected on the narrow circuit, they were an indicator of the chaos that is imminent in the qualifying session of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Concurrently, Leclerc’s crash and damage to his car is also an indicator of the unforgivable nature of the fastest street circuit on the calendar. Both qualifying and racing are expected to be anything but predictable, as red flags and safety car periods could subvert any textbook predictions.

In race trims, traffic and fewer race simulations carried out by both Mercedes and Red Bull Racing are under-representative of their original pace and pace deficit between both teams. Both Hamilton and Verstappen are expected to be within a tenth of a second of each other in both qualifying and the race for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.