Leclerc leads FP2 from Perez and Verstappen

Huge gains in the first and second sector from the opening practice run vaulted Leclerc up the order, as he bolted to a 1m43.224s in his qualifying simulations on Friday evening.

That handed him a 0.25s advantage over FP1 pacesetter Perez, and Verstappen was again the slower of the RB18 drivers while Fernando Alonso ran impressively to net fourth place.

For the cooler and less windy evening stint, Carlos Sainz led Esteban Ocon to the end of the pitlane where they sat for 15s waiting for the track to open.

Only the Red Bulls remained in the garage after the first three minutes of running, with all selecting the C4 medium-compound Pirellis initially except the hard-shod McLaren duo.

Sainz was the first driver to gear up for a representative lap, circulating in 1m46.705s to lead Sebastian Vettel by 1.2s as Ocon was initially third.

But Alonso swiftly moved to the top as the Alpine yet again nailed the final sector – with the Spaniard fastest in S3 at the end of the hour – as he clocked a 1m46.673s to sit 0.06s clear.

As the times kept coming down, Yuki Tsunoda and then Lewis Hamilton – massively boosted by a tow from Perez down the main straight – enjoyed brief spells in first place.

It took until the 11th minute of the 60 for Perez’s 1m45.476s yardstick from FP1 to be eclipsed, with Sainz setting the new measure courtesy of a 1m45.118s on mediums.

That gave him 1.2s in hand over a porpoising Hamilton before Perez split the difference in second and Zhou Guanyu ran third.

But then the session swung in Leclerc’s favour as tweaks to the Ferrari set-up began to pay off handsomely through the opening half of the lap – the Monegasque bringing the times down massively with his 1m43.806s.

That turn of speed rather surprised Hamilton, who replied “what the?!” over team radio when he clocked 10th and was informed of his 2.4s gap to Leclerc.

As the track offered up substantial gains, and…