Another hour of practice sees Lando Norris top the times. With two of the three practice sessions now complete, we edge closer to the conclusion of the season.
The session began with Leclerc reporting that the left air vent of his helmet was poking him in the eye! The issue was resolved the next time he returned to the Ferrari pit box.
Piastri Joins the Track
With 55 minutes remaining, championship contender Oscar Piastri took to the track for the first time today. His earlier session was handed over to development driver Pato O’Ward.
Early Pace Setters
An early lap from Hadjar set the fastest time of the day so far: a 1:24.167.
Reigning champion Verstappen was noted for impeding championship leader Norris. Moments later, the stewards confirmed no investigation was necessary.
Mid-Session Developments
With 43 minutes left, Norris set a lap on the medium tyres to move up to third, one tenth quicker than Verstappen. Leclerc placed his Ferrari fourth while Hamilton sat down in ninth.
Verstappen then switched to the soft compound and set a new benchmark of 1:23.446 with 34 minutes remaining. Hülkenberg, also on softs, was just 0.104s behind.
Norris struck back with a 1:23.083 to go quickest with 30 minutes to go, pushing Verstappen down to second, 0.363s off the pace. Piastri couldn’t match the frontrunners, sitting 10th and 0.680s behind.
Piastri Struggles for Pace
With 22 minutes left, Piastri still wasn’t making progress after a lock-up into Turn 6. With 15 minutes to go, Alonso jumped to ninth, pushing Piastri out of the top 10. Zak Brown told Sky Sports: “Oscar is not totally dialled in yet, but he will get there.”
Late-Session Incidents
A brief investigation into Ocon impeding Antonelli was also dismissed, with the stewards again concluding that no action was necessary.
The 5 minutes left of the session saw Norris continuing to fly around the track, consistently setting times in the low 1:29s. Everyone else, including Verstappen, was at least a few tenths slower.
Chequered Flag
1st place in FP1 and FP2, championship leader Lando Norris gets a clean sheet on Friday. The rest of the time sheet is as follows: