Max Verstappen did not give the lead in the first free practice session of the Saudi Arabian GP as he had accustomed us to last year. The three-time world champion was the fastest with the Red Bull RB20 with a time of 1'29″659 achieved with the soft tyres, a performance which however is 42 thousandths slower than last year's FP1.
On the treacherous Jeddah circuit there are eight single-seaters within half a second, a sign that the leading group is very compact. Behind the Dutchman came Fernando Alonso with the Aston Martin: the Asturian was 186 thousandths from the top with a “verdona” immediately at ease on a very flat and smooth asphalt. The Spaniard brought the AMR24 between the two Red Bulls, as Sergio Perez was third with 1'29″868, 209 thousandths behind his captain.
George Russell's Mercedes reappears behind him, decidedly faster than Lewis Hamilton, only eighth. Russell found a good balance, while the seven-time world champion complained about “pumping” in the rear due to a set-up that was too rigid.
The Ferraris did not expose themselves on the flying lap with Charles Leclerc fifth and Carlos Sainz sixth. The Spaniard took to the track although he was debilitated by a stomach problem which kept him in the hotel until shortly before boarding the SF-24, so much so that the reserve driver, Oliver Bearman, was put on pre-alarm.
Leclerc is the first driver not to have broken through the 1'30 barrier, but the gap of 371 thousandths from Verstappen should not cause concern because the Maranello team carried out some aerodynamic tests, still running with the Bahrain wings. The red car, however, drew a positive indication from the mini lomg run carried out before the checkered flag: Leclerc, in fact, was faster than Verstappen, giving the feeling that the SF-24 could be competitive with the hard compound.
McLaren still doesn't seem comfortable in qualifying configuration: Lando Norris is seventh ahead of Lewis Hamilto, but pays half a second, while Oscar Piastri has dedicated more attention to gathering information for the race: the Australian is only 15th, but has carried out 7 rounds of long runs with the hard tires while Norris worked on the medium ones.
The top 10 is completed by Lance Stroll with the second Aston Martin and Alexander Albon with Williams. The Canadian was forced to make a long stop halfway through the session after touching the inside wall with his front left during a high-speed stretch: the impact wasn't devastating, so much so that the mechanics managed to make the repairs to get him back on track.
If Albon took the FW46 to tenth place, Logans Sargeant climbed to 14th place. Valtteri Bottas' qualifying was positive with the Sauber, while Guanyu Zhou was only 18th with the other C44.
Pay attention to Daniel Riccardo's performance with the Racing Bulls: the Australian is 12th but has never mounted the red tyres, so his time of 1'30″917 obtained with the yellows should not be surprising just like Yuki Tsunoda who dedicated to a 12-lap long run on the hard tire and finished 16th.
With the disastrous Alpine Esteban Ocon scored a very honorable 13th place, with Pierre Gasly only 17th. Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnusse close the list with the Haas: the American team, as in Bahrain, did not look for a flying lap, but thought about the duration of the race.
#Jeddah #Free #Practice #Verstappen #lap #Leclerc #pace
