The Briton was fastest in the afternoon, with a time of 1 minute, 29 seconds and 786 thousandths, and at night, with 1.29: 018, in conditions similar to those that the drivers will encounter in qualifying and in the race. , Saturday and Sunday.
Hamilton finished ahead of his teammate, the Finn Valtteri Bottas, by 61 thousandths. Third was the French Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), at 81, and fourth was the Dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull), leader of the World Cup, at 195.
The Alpines of the Spanish Fernando Alonso and the French Esteban Ocon, the Ferrari of the Spanish Carlos Sainz Jr., the AlphaTauri of the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda, the Red Bull of the Mexican Sergio Pérez and the Ferrari of the Monegasque Charles Leclerc completed the Top 10 of the second session .
These results have to be weighed against the circumstance that the Mercedes were fitted with medium tires, less fast on a lap than the soft ones of their rivals, and with the traffic, loaded on a narrow track.
Maintaining his lead in qualifying on Saturday and in Sunday’s race will be crucial for Hamilton to prevent Verstappen from taking the world title this weekend.
The Dutchman can win his first title in the premier class of motorsport in this penultimate race, if he takes his points difference with Hamilton from 8 to 26.
This means adding 17 points more than the British, at least. For this, the 24-year-old must finish first or second on Sunday and his 36-year-old rival to finish far from the top positions.
This Friday neither of the two protagonists of the season was satisfied with their performance.
On paper, the Jeddah Corniche circuit, which makes its debut in the Formula 1 World Championship, is favorable to Mercedes, with its 27 corners, almost all smooth, which make the track very fast, giving an advantage to the speed of tip of the Silver Arrows.
The circuit also has protection walls very close to the track, so traps are announced when high speeds are reached. Aware of the risks and ignorance, everyone was very cautious in the first round of tests.
In the second the Haas pilots Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin had a contact. AND five minutes from the end Leclerc spun at high speed on lap 22, hitting the safety barriers. The pilot was unscathed but the car suffered several damages.
Hosting Formula 1, like other sporting and cultural events in recent years, Saudi Arabia continues its campaign to improve its international image and try to diversify its oil economy.
In the opinion of Human Rights Watch, Saudi Arabia uses this GP and the international star concerts organized in parallel to “divert attention from widespread human rights violations”, which is called by the English term “sportwashing”.
Source From: Ambito
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