FP1: Max Verstappen sets the pace in Saudi Arabia's first practice, leading Alonso and Perez
Max Verstappen led the field in Thursday afternoon’s opening practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, beating out Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
The initial soft-tyre runs saw Verstappen trailing Mercedes rival George Russell by a mere 0.003 seconds. However, the reigning world champion improved his time to 1m 29.659s on his second effort, pulling definitively clear.
As the session progressed, Verstappen remained at the top, finishing just under two-tenths ahead of Alonso. Perez followed closely in third, a few hundredths further behind, with Russell rounding out the top four for Mercedes.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz took fifth and sixth positions, respectively. Sainz arrived at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit just in time for the session, having missed Wednesday's media duties due to illness.
Lando Norris was the fastest McLaren driver, finishing in seventh place. He was followed by the other Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll—who had an early brush with the wall—and the Williams of Alex Albon.
Kick Sauber's Valtteri Bottas led the charge for his team in 11th position, while teammate Zhou Guanyu finished back in 18th after a wild slide during his soft-tyre run forced him to back off significantly.
Read next ❯ Ferrari to reveal Hamilton's debut F1 car on February 19 at MaranelloDaniel Ricciardo placed 12th for RB, setting his best time on medium tyres. Esteban Ocon secured 13th for Alpine, a team looking to recover after a tough season opener in Bahrain and recent staff changes involving their Technical Director and Head of Aerodynamics.
Logan Sargeant and Oscar Piastri trailed their teammates, occupying 14th and 15th positions respectively. Yuki Tsunoda, in another RB, took 16th spot using the yellow-marked medium tyres for his best lap.
Pierre Gasly finished 17th in the second Alpine, followed by Zhou and the Haas pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, who, like the RB drivers, set their fastest times on medium tyres.
This first day of track action sets the stage for an exciting weekend, with teams delving into the data to optimize their strategies for the upcoming sessions.
