PRACTICE 2: Pin doubles up in second Lusail Practice as she clocks fastest time ahead of Pulling

Doriane Pin made it two-for-two in the second Free Practice in Lusail, edging ahead of title rival Abbi Pulling at the chequered flag.

It was a closely-fought session, with the top three separated by only 0.142s as Wild Card driver Alisha Palmowski made her mark in third.

Driving under the floodlights around the Lusail International Circuit, the field had their eyes on preparing for both tomorrow afternoon’s Qualifying and their first-ever night race.

Red Bull Racing’s Hamda Al Qubaisi was the first to get a time on the board, clocking a 1:58.348 as the initial benchmark. Setting the field’s quickest time yet in Qatar, Standings leader Pulling went top on a 1:56.453, whilst Chloe Chambers slotted into second in the Haas-liveried car.

The Briton continued to lower the time to beat to a 1:56.038, before Maya Weug eclipsed her effort by 0.019s. Pulling quickly regained the top spot on a 1:55.785, going two tenths clear of the Ferrari driver as Palmowski climbed into the top three.

As the midway point approached, the field peeled into the pits to swap on to a new set of tyres. Lia Block was the first to take advantage of the fresh rubber and became Pulling’s nearest challenger, only 0.052s back, whilst Jessica Edgar moved into third.

Less than seven minutes were left on the clock as the fight for P1 ramped up. Block seized the top spot on a 1:55.517, only for the Williams driver to be immediately beaten by Palmowski’s 1:55.477, who in turn was demoted by Weug.

READ MORE: PRACTICE 1: Pin top of the timesheets ahead of Pulling in Lusail opener

Pin then went fastest of all on a 1:55.043, whilst Pulling kept in close range of the Mercedes driver, sitting just six hundredths adrift. Entering their final attempts, Palmowski staked her claim on the quickest effort of the day, becoming the first driver to break into the 1:54s and putting her 0.107s ahead of Pin.

The top spot then shifted into Pin’s hands on a 1:54.914 until Pulling wrestled it away by 0.019s. It appeared to be job done, but Pin wasn’t finished yet and snatched the fastest lap away from the Alpine driver with a 1:54.794.

Weug finished fourth ahead of Hamda Al Qubaisi, who’s last-second improvement secured her a top-five spot. After her P4-effort in FP1, Edgar put in another solid showing in sixth followed by Block and Emely De Heus. Chambers ended the session in ninth, whilst Bianca Bustamante rounded out the top 10 for McLaren.

The grids for both races will be set on Saturday afternoon, with Qualifying getting underway at 15:20 local time (GMT+3).