Max Verstappen in command as traffic bedlam sparks Saudi Arabian GP qualifying fears

Verstappen in FP2 op Jeddah — Photo: © LAT Images

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

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Verstappen in command as traffic bedlam sparks Saudi Arabian GP qualifying fears

Red Bull looks in complete control at the top

Ewan Gale

Friday 17 March 2023 19:01 Updated: 20:40

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Red Bull's stronghold at the top of the F1 timesheets continued with Max Verstappen finishing fastest in second practice for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman set a best time of one minute, 29.603secs to finish 0.208s faster than Fernando Alonso, who continues to impress for Aston Martin.

Sergio Perez was third in the second Red Bull, within a tenth of Alonso as the teams completed their representative qualifying simulations under the lights at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

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Verstappen's confidence with the RB19 was clear for all when the two-time champion instantly pushed to the limit, narrowly avoiding contact with the wall on the exit of the final corner during his initial medium-tyre runs.

But when the softs were fitted, Verstappen was again in a class of one to remain in command heading into the weekend.

Alpine joined the party at the top of the grid with Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly finishing fourth and sixth fastest, each within half a second of Verstappen's best effort.

Between the two French drivers was George Russell, who called for changes to his Mercedes after completing his flying laps. The Briton was seen locking up into the first corner on numerous occasions.

Lance Stroll ended the day seventh fastest in the second Aston Martin, three-tenths adrift of team-mate Alonso.

Nico Hulkenberg's eighth-place finish in the session suggests Haas ran with a relatively low fuel load during the German's quali sims - finishing ahead of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz who rounded out the top 10 for Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton could muster only 11th in his W14, with work to be down at Mercedes overnight.

The big takeaway from the session ahead of qualifying, however, was the difficulties drivers will face with traffic.

Leclerc labelled Hulkenberg 'a joke' for hugging the apex at turn 13 early in the session before further ranting on team radio in the dying embers of the hour.

Whilst all drivers were affected and, at points, at blame for traffic issues, McLaren's rookie Oscar Piastri - who ended the session 19th fastest - was the victim of the scariest moment as he encountered two cars side-by-side through turn 16.