Alonso slots in between the two McLarens in second place. Small improvement for Ferrari after a terrible FP1

A Friday marked by Lando Norris. After being the fastest in FP1, the English McLaren driver also finished at the top of the second free practice session. Behind him, less than a tenth of a second behind, was Fernando Alonso. Third was Oscar Piastri, also less than a tenth of a second behind his teammate. Behind the Australian was George Russell. These two drivers nearly had an accident in the pit lane: Piastri, who was returning to the pits, changed direction at the last minute on the instructions of a McLaren mechanic, forcing the Mercedes driver to brake suddenly in the fast lane. The incident will be investigated by race control at the end of the session. Fifth was home favorite Max Verstappen, who finished ahead of Lewis Hamilton, the first of the two Ferraris. Yuki Tsunoda was seventh, behind him Charles Leclerc. Franco Colapinto was ninth, with Nico Hulkenberg closing out the top 10.

Many drivers took to the track immediately to complete a few laps on a dry track, as rain was forecast during the session. A few drops began to fall in the pit lane at the start of the session, but the rain was never heavy enough to force the drivers to switch to wet tires. With 49 minutes to go, Lance Stroll crashed into the wall at turn 3, heavily damaging his car. The car remained in the middle of the track, prompting the stewards to display the red flag and interrupt the session. After the accident, the Canadian radioed his team to say he was okay. The session resumed with 37 minutes to go. The track was still dry, so many drivers returned to the track. After a few minutes, Isack Hadjar’s car stopped due to a reliability issue, prompting the Virtual Safety Car to be deployed.

SECOND HALF OF THE SESSION—  The VSC was lifted with half an hour remaining. At this point, Bearman was leading on soft tires, followed by Norris on yellow tires and Bortoleto, who was also on soft tires. A few minutes later, Hulkenberg took the lead. Hamilton spun 27 minutes from the end, but the Englishman managed to regain control of his car and avoid the barriers. With 24 minutes to go, Norris moved into first place, completing the lap in 1:09.890, with Alonso less than a tenth behind him. Both completed their attempts on soft tires. The same was true for Piastri, third after his fast lap, and for Ferrari drivers Hamilton and Leclerc, sixth and eighth respectively after their attempts. Home favorite Verstappen set the fifth fastest time. With 21 minutes remaining in the session, Alex Albon crashed into the wall at Turn 1, prompting the stewards to wave the red flag again. With 14 minutes remaining, activity on the track resumed.