Free practice number two was the only truly representative session of the weekend, as it took place under the lights at the same time as Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race. That made it a key hour for teams and drivers to fine-tune their setups and get a proper read on performance.

Unfortunately for rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, he missed out entirely due to a fuel leak on his Sauber, meaning just 19 drivers took part.

The session began with plenty of action straight away. Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg both had a bit of trouble getting out of the pits, stopping close to the wall. Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli locked up into Turn 1 on his first flying lap, while Lewis Hamilton ran wide at the fast Turn 22.

McLaren looked strong from the start. Lando Norris set the early pace, just ahead of Charles Leclerc. Oscar Piastri wasn’t far off either, at one point he was just 0.001s behind his teammate. The two McLaren drivers kept swapping top spot as they pushed harder on the soft tyres, but Norris eventually came out on top with a lap of 1:28.267.

Max Verstappen briefly took P1 with a strong lap on softs, but both McLarens hit back. Piastri went quickest, then Norris responded again almost immediately with the best time of the night.

A few minutes before the end, Yuki Tsunoda brought out a red flag late in the session after crashing at the final corner as he clipped the inside barrier and slid into the wall. Luckily, he was okay, but his session was over.

The session resumed with a minute to go, allowing a few practice starts but not changing the final order. McLaren locked out the top two, with Verstappen third. Leclerc followed in fourth, Sainz was a strong fifth for Williams, and Tsunoda’s earlier lap was good enough for sixth. Russell was seventh for Mercedes, FP1 winner Pierre Gasly eight, with Nico Hulkenberg and Alex Albon completing the top 10.