George Russell’s Mercedes was quickest in a rain-impacted Free Practice 1, before Leclerc set the fastest time of the day in a dry FP2 at 1m17.686s, 0.015s quicker than Lando Norris (McLaren) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine).
The session started on a dry track, but Red Bull’s Sergio Perez crashed after just three minutes of the session at Turn 5, red-flagging the session before any serious laptimes were set.
He dropped a wheel off the track before turn-in, sending him spinning into the wall, smashing the front-left corner from the car and damaging the team’s new updates. “No, I cannot believe this,” he said of his error.
As soon as the session restarted, it began to rain – causing Valtteri Bottas to spin his slick-shod Alfa Romeo at Turn 12.
After very limited running due to the conditions, with all cars now using intermediate tyres, Carlos Sainz caused a second red flag when he spun his Ferrari on the exit of Turn 3 and got stuck on the grass.
After the resumption, Russell and Oscar Piastri (McLaren) swapped the fastest time between them, with Russell winning their duel by 0.359s when he produced 1m38.795s. Lance Stroll was third quickest for Aston Martin, ahead of the second McLaren of Norris, the second Aston of Fernando Alonso and Bottas.
Seven drivers failed to set a time, including Max Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and returnee Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri). The latter’s new team-mate, Yuki Tsunoda, also inflicted some front-wing damage on his car after an off at Turn 5.
Source: Autosport