The Ferraris were the first to break into the 1m31s at the opening of the session, Carlos Sainz posting a 1m31.787s before he was shaded by Leclerc by three tenths in the initial runs.
This was still well over a second slower than George Russell’s benchmark from FP1, although Perez eventually brought the pace closer with his 1m30.757s, but this was eclipsed by Verstappen’s 1m30.146s.
Sainz posted a 1m30.128s, three thousandths of a second shy of Russell’s 1m30.125s from FP1, but Leclerc then broke the 90-second barrier with a 1m29.497s to vault to the top of the timing boards.
Verstappen got closer to the Monegasque, falling just a tenth shy on his next effort as he struggled with his headrest catching on his …