Up Next
Alpine topped the least informative session of the current Formula 1 sprint weekend format as Esteban Ocon led practice two at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Key moments
– Ocon quickest after Perez and Russell lead earlier
– Latifi excursion is the session’s only incident
– Sargeant gets his superlicence point
With teams’ set-ups frozen under parc ferme rules and qualifying already done due to this weekend’s sprint format, the usual practice two situation unfolded of teams doing varying programmes of data gathering and race preparation rather than focusing on outright pace.
A relatively late soft-tyre run from Ocon included a 1m14.804s lap that put him quickest, 0.184s over Sergio Perez’s Red Bull – which had set the pace for a while.
George Russell was third for Mercedes, with Fernando Alonso giving Alpine two cars in the top four.
Sprint polesitter Kevin Magnussen was ninth quickest and could potentially take encouragement for his race hopes from how long he spent in the top five earlier in the session.
Very unusually for a Saturday practice session, there was a rookie driver in the field as Williams gave prospective 2023 driver Logan Sargeant an additional outing in Alex Albon’s car to make up for the Mexican GP Friday session in which red flags meant he didn’t cover the 100km required to get a superlicence point.
He achieved that mileage this time, so is a step closer to the superlicence points tally required to take up his F1 seat for next year.
A trip over the grass at Juncao by the man Sargeant is set to replace – outgoing Williams driver Nicholas Latifi – was the only incident of the hour.
Practice 2 Results
Pos | Name | Car | Best Time | Gap Leader |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1m14.604s | |
2 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull | 1m14.788s | +0.184s |
3 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1m14.916s | +0.312s |
4 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine-Renault | 1m15.049s | +0.445s |
5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m15.098s | +0.494s |
6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m15.137s | +0.533s |
7 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Red Bull | 1m15.636s | +1.032s |
8 | Mick Schumacher | Haas-Ferrari | 1m15.684s | +1.08s |
9 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1m15.815s | +1.211s |
10 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m15.851s | +1.247s |
11 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1m15.856s | +1.252s |
12 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Red Bull | 1m15.865s | +1.261s |
13 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m15.868s | +1.264s |
14 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m15.994s | +1.39s |
15 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1m16.047s | +1.443s |
16 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1m16.181s | +1.577s |
17 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1m16.263s | +1.659s |
18 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | 1m16.263s | +1.659s |
19 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1m16.263s | +1.659s |
20 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1m16.263s | +1.659s |