F1 Saudi Arabia GP live updates: FP2 results as Alonso takes P1; Red Bull Christian Horner drama rumbles on

Follow the reaction to today’s free practice sessions in Formula One’s second race week of the season in Saudi Arabia amid controversy around Horner

Saudi GP – FP1, FP2 results

Hamilton given warning, Mercedes fined after Sargeant incident

After a close call that nearly resulted in a high-speed collision with Logan Sargeant during FP2, Lewis Hamilton has been given a warning.

Mercedes, meanwhile, have been fined €15,000. After the incident, Hamilton indicated over his radio that his team had failed to warn him the Williams driver was on a flying lap.

Red Bull suspends woman who made complaint against Horner: Source

Red Bull Racing has suspended with pay the female employee who made allegations of inappropriate behavior against team principal Christian Horner, a person briefed on the matter told The Athletic on Thursday.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not give more details about the terms or reason for the suspension, but acknowledged that it was related to the findings of an outside investigation that led to the dismissal of a grievance against Horner.

F1 Academy qualifying underway

F1 Academy's first qualifying session of the season has gotten underway in Jeddah.

The Athletic's Madeline Coleman has previewed everything you need to know about the series, which you can find at the link below.

Drivers to keep an eye on include Doriane Pin, Lia Block and Reema Juffali (pictured above), the latter of whom is the first female racer from Saudi Arabia and the wild card entry for this weekend.

Zak Brown: 'We feel pretty competitive'

McLaren CEO Zak Brown spoke to Sky Sports after FP2: "Bahrain is kind of where we had it pegged with Red Bull up the way, Ferrari ahead but then Mercedes and Aston Martin close. That played out as we thought. This weekend it looks like Red Bull has everyone covered but maybe not by the same gap.

"We feel pretty competitive. We were working on a variety of programs, so I don't think the lap times are representative of where we will be come qualifying.

"I think we were a little bit more competitive (than we showed) in Bahrain but we didn’t quite get our qualifying laps together.

"Here I feel like we’re maybe a little bit closer to the front than we were in Bahrain. But I hope I don’t eat my words now that I’ve made a little bit of a prediction."

What will it take to be on pole?

Sergio Perez took pole in qualifying at this circuit 12 months ago with a lap time of 1:28.265.

That's more than half a second quicker than the lap time that gave Fernando Alonso P1 in this session.

Good news for Hamilton

Despite losing electrical power with just a few minutes left in FP2, Hamilton was able to return to the track in time to get a practice start in.

That suggests the issue with his Mercedes wasn't too serious.

Full FP2 results - Alonso P1

1. Alonso: 1:28.827
2. Russell: +0.230
3. Verstappen: +0.331
4. Leclerc: +0.353
5. Perez: +0.473
6. Stroll: +0.509
7. Sainz: +0.628
8. Hamilton: +0.677
9. Gasly: +0.701
10. Piastri: +0.767
11. Tsunoda: +0.839
12. Norris: +0.931
13. Zhou: +0.950
14. Albon: +0.962
15. Ocon: +1.074
16. Sargeant: +1.107
17. Magnussen: +1.158
18. Hulkenberg: +1.250
19. Ricciardo: +1.261
20. Bottas: +1.326

Checkered flag

The clock has hit zero on FP2. Alonso remains in P1.

Hamilton loses power

Hamilton's battery appears to have gone, forcing the Mercedes driver back into the pits. With just a few minutes left in FP2, he's the only driver not out on track.

Stroll shown black-and-white flag

Lance Stroll has been shown a black-and-white flag for failing to follow track limits. Replays show that his left tires wandered over the painted area as sped down the start-finish straight.

Pesky curbs

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We've seen several replays of drivers running over the curbs around this circuit, sending sparks into the air. Mechanics will be checking their cars' floors after this session, that you can be sure of.

Hamilton to visit stewards in 30 minutes

Lewis Hamilton's visit to the stewards regarding his impeding of Logan Sargeant earlier in the session, which nearly resulted in a high-speed collision, will take place in 30 minutes.

Sargeant will also be there to give his side of the story.

Back to longer runs

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Having finished their qualifying simulations, plenty of drivers have returned to the medium and hard tires. They'll use the remaining time in FP2 for longer runs.

Tsunoda set for fewer Christmas cards...

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No sooner than Yuki Tsunoda made up with Daniel Ricciardo after falling out with his teammate at the Bahrain GP, he gets himself into hot water with another driver on the grid.

"**** Tsunoda!" exclaims Russell on Mercedes radio after the two nearly collided.

Alonso leads from Russell, Verstappen

With 20 minutes to go, here's how the leaderboard looks:

1. Alonso: 1:28.827
2. Russell: +0.230
3. Verstappen: +0.331
4. Leclerc: +0.353
5. Perez: +0.473

We're lucky we haven't seen a crash

We've just seen replays of another two close calls.

Alonso came upon a Ferrari and his fellow Aston Martin at high speed, but all three drivers did well to avoid contact.

More dangerously, Russell was nearly pushed into the wall at high speed by Tsunoda, prompting the Mercedes driver to use a profanity over the radio.

Hamilton trailing Russell

Hamilton sets his first representative lap on the soft tires, managing only P7. He's nearly three-tenths off his teammate George Russell is P4.

Red Bulls not dominating on soft tires, yet

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Red Bull aren't their usual dominant self at the moment. Verstappen and Perez have both set times on the soft tires but Perez is P3, nearly half a second off Alonso's time, and Max is P5, just a bit further behind.

Just as I type this, Verstappen moves into P2, though he's still 0.331 off Alonso.

Alonso into P1 on softs

Alonso bolts on the soft tires and sets a new fastest time: 1:28.827.

In P2-P5, Leclerc, Perez, Stroll and Verstappen have set flying laps on softs as well.