Max Verstappen has ended the second practice session of the weekend on top of the timesheets, just like he did a few hours prior.
However, it wasn’t as simple as it sounds for the World Champion as he came onto the team radio with ten minutes to go saying that he had “really bad” downshifts at the final corner.
One of his main title rivals, Charles Leclerc, also struggled with his clutch pedal, making things even worse on a weekend where he will start no higher than tenth on the grid due to a penalty.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso impressed again, this time getting the better of Sergio Perez to end the session second, with the Red Bull driver in third.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon ended the session in fourth place, with his team-mate Pierre Gasly in sixth. This was a strong showing from the French team that many believe could match the pace of Mercedes this weekend.
George Russell split the Alpine cars, saying that “we need to make some changes” over the team radio. His team-mate Lewis Hamilton could only manage 11th fastest.
Nico Hulkenberg, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz rounded out the top ten on a difficult weekend for the Ferrari team so far.
Here is how the top ten looked on the leaderboard at the end of the second practice session:
