SAUDI ARABIA GP – Charles Leclerc fastest in first practice a tenth ahead of Max Verstappen
Charles Leclerc was the fastest in the first practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver set a 38.778 on soft tyres which put him a tenth ahead of the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, with the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas putting his Alfa Romeo third late in the session.
Ferrari look like the team to beat early on, however the first session isn’t normally the most reprehensive session with it being a night race. But Red Bull are needing a strong weekend after retiring from Sunday’s race in Bahrain, Verstappen looking to be comfortable early on. Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz going fourth, just over half a hundred behind. However, the Dutchman didn’t set a lap on the soft tyres.
The rivalry seen last weekend in Sakhir between Leclerc and Verstappen looks set to be renewed this weekend in Jeddah. The Dutchman looked to be the faster of the two drivers, but his fastest time was on the hard tyre compared to Leclerc’s on the softs.
Bottas set his final time in the closing moments of the session, while Leclerc’s final lap looked to be faster thanks to a tow from Lewis Hamilton the Ferrari driver slide wide and hit the wall at Turn Sixteen. Sainz meanwhile closed the gap to his teammate with a late soft run.
Pierre Gasly put his Alpha Tauri fifth, the Frenchman going nearly four hundredths ahead of his teammate Yuki Tsunoda and the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez was six hundredths behind. Esteban Ocon put his Alpine eighth going four tenths faster than teammate Fernando Alonso, although they were spilt by the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.
Alonso has moved to his second ICE after his engine was sent to Renault’s Viry facility for inspection after a suspected sealing issue was discovered after last weekend’s race. They said they expect the first engine to be put back into his pool of engines once it had been investigated back in Europe.
Mercedes hopes of being stronger on street circuits while they look to resolve issues with their car did not come true. Lewis Hamilton could only manage ninth a second and a half off the pace, while teammate George Russell was fifteenth although it is believed that they were experimenting.
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was eleventh fastest, he was nine hundredths faster than teammate Lando Norris. The two drivers being split by the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, the British team has really struggled over the last three weeks in the Middle East despite showing strong pace and performance in Barcelona testing.
Guanyu Zhou put his Alfa Romeo fourteenth going two tenths quicker than George Russell, Nico Hulkenberg once again replacing Sebastian Vettel, was sixteenth. Williams and Haas were at the back, Alex Albon going half a second faster than teammate Nicolas Latifi, Mick Schumacher nineteenth.
Schumacher’s Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen only managing an out lap, before the team detected a hydraulic leak that occurred on his car very early in the session, which required a radiator change that could not be completed in time to let him run again.