Fresh from his victory in the 2022 F1 opener in Bahrain, the Ferrari driver topped FP2 by 0.140s from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen but Leclerc saw his session ended prematurely after he sustained car damage in a hit with the wall.
Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr suffered a similar fate and also missed out on the final 20 minutes of the second practice session, meaning Ferrari has no long run data to learn from ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP.
But events on the track were overshadowed by a missile attack on an oil facility near the Jeddah circuit on Friday afternoon, when F1’s first practice session was midway through, and has prompted unease within the paddock.
F1 chiefs held meetings with the local authorities to get clarification of what happened at the Aramco facility and an update on what safety precautions had been put in place at the Jeddah Corniche circuit.
Following a preliminary meeting with drivers and team principals ahead of second free practice, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali hosted another meeting on Friday night alongside FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to update everyone on the situation.
The 40-minute meeting ended with agreement among the team principals that the race could go ahead, based on promises that F1 had been given about security in Jeddah.
What time does qualifying start for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?
Qualifying for the Saudi Arabian GP starts at 8pm local time (5pm GMT), using the regular Q1, Q2 and Q3 knockout session format.
Date: Saturday 26th March 2022
Start time: 8pm local time - 5pm GMT
How can I watch Formula 1?
In the United Kingdom Formula 1 is only broadcast live on Sky Sports, with highlights shown on Channel 4 several hours after the race has finished. Live streaming through NOW is also available in the UK.
Sky Sports F1, which broadcasts the F1 races, can be added as part of the Sky Sports channels which costs £20 a month for new customers. Sky Sports can also be accessed through NOW with a one-off day payment of £11.98 or a monthly membership of £33.99 per month.
Fans wanting to watch the race for free will have to wait until the evening of Saturday (qualifying) or Sunday (race) to see the highlights on Channel 4.
How can I watch Saudi Arabia GP qualifying?
In the United Kingdom every F1 practice, qualifying and race is broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with Saudi Arabian GP qualifying coverage starting at 4pm GMT.
- Channel: Sky Sports F1
- Start time: 4:00pm GMT 26th March 2022
Autosport will be running a live text coverage of qualifying here.
When can I watch the highlights of Saudi Arabian GP qualifying?
In the United Kingdom Channel 4 is broadcasting highlights of qualifying for the Saudi Arabian GP at 8:30pm GMT on Saturday. The full programme will run for 90 minutes, covering both qualifying and wrapping up the major talking points of the race weekend so far.
For the entire 2022 F1 season, Channel 4 will broadcast highlights of every qualifying and race of each event. The highlights will also be available on Channel 4’s on demand catch up services.
- Channel: Channel 4
- Start time: 8:30pm GMT 26th March 2022
Will Saudi Arabian GP qualifying be on the radio?
Live radio coverage of every practice, qualifying and race for the 2022 F1 season will be available on the BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC 5 Live Sports Extra or via the BBC Sport website.
Coverage of Saudi Arabian GP qualifying will start at 5:30pm GMT on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra and the BBC Sounds app.
What's the weather forecast for qualifying at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit?
Dry, warm and clear weather is forecast for Saturday evening for the start of qualifying at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. The temperature is set to be 24 degrees Celsius at the start of qualifying, four degrees warmer than qualifying for the Bahrain GP last time out.
FP2 Results:
| Cla | Driver | Time | Gap | Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Charles Leclerc |  | 1'30.074 | ||
| 2 |  Max Verstappen |  | 1'30.214 | 0.140 | 0.140 |
| 3 |  Carlos Sainz Jr |  | 1'30.320 | 0.246 | 0.106 |
| 4 |  Sergio Perez |  | 1'30.360 | 0.286 | 0.040 |
| 5 |  Lewis Hamilton |  | 1'30.513 | 0.439 | 0.153 |
| 6 | George Russell |  | 1'30.664 | 0.590 | 0.151 |
| 7 | Lando Norris |  | 1'30.735 | 0.661 | 0.071 |
| 8 |  Esteban Ocon |  | 1'30.760 | 0.686 | 0.025 |
| 9 |  Valtteri Bottas |  | 1'30.832 | 0.758 | 0.072 |
| 10 |  Yuki Tsunoda |  | 1'30.886 | 0.812 | 0.054 |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso |  | 1'30.944 | 0.870 | 0.058 |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly |  | 1'30.963 | 0.889 | 0.019 |
| 13 |  Mick Schumacher |  | 1'31.169 | 1.095 | 0.206 |
| 14 |  Lance Stroll |  | 1'31.372 | 1.298 | 0.203 |
| 15 |  Daniel Ricciardo |  | 1'31.527 | 1.453 | 0.155 |
| 16 | Nico Hulkenberg | | 1'31.615 | 1.541 | 0.088 |
| 17 |  Guanyu Zhou |  | 1'31.615 | 1.541 | 0.000 |
| 18 | Nicholas Latifi |  | 1'31.814 | 1.740 | 0.199 |
| 19 |  Alex Albon |  | 1'31.866 | 1.792 | 0.052 |
| 20 |  Kevin Magnussen |  | 1'32.344 | 2.270 | 0.478 |
| View full results | |||||
FP1 Results:
| Cla | Driver | Time | Gap | Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Leclerc |  | 1'30.772 | ||
| 2 | Max Verstappen |  | 1'30.888 | 0.116 | 0.116 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas |  | 1'31.084 | 0.312 | 0.196 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz Jr | | 1'31.139 | 0.367 | 0.055 |
| 5 | Pierre Gasly |  | 1'31.317 | 0.545 | 0.178 |
| 6 | Yuki Tsunoda |  | 1'31.505 | 0.733 | 0.188 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez |  | 1'31.563 | 0.791 | 0.058 |
| 8 | Esteban Ocon | | 1'32.026 | 1.254 | 0.463 |
| 9 | Lewis Hamilton |  | 1'32.364 | 1.592 | 0.338 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | | 1'32.381 | 1.609 | 0.017 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | | 1'32.506 | 1.734 | 0.125 |
| 12 | Lance Stroll |  | 1'32.582 | 1.810 | 0.076 |
| 13 | Lando Norris |  | 1'32.594 | 1.822 | 0.012 |
| 14 | Guanyu Zhou | | 1'32.608 | 1.836 | 0.014 |
| 15 | George Russell | | 1'32.839 | 2.067 | 0.231 |
| 16 | Nico Hulkenberg |  | 1'33.034 | 2.262 | 0.195 |
| 17 | Alex Albon |  | 1'33.087 | 2.315 | 0.053 |
| 18 | Nicholas Latifi | | 1'33.529 | 2.757 | 0.442 |
| 19 | Mick Schumacher |  | 1'34.429 | 3.657 | 0.900 |
| 20 | Kevin Magnussen | | |||
| View full results | |||||
