Formula 1 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix First Practice Session Results

In a surprising turn of events, Pierre Gasly of Alpine F1 Team emerged as the pacesetter in the first practice session ahead of the Formula 1 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. Despite widespread expectations of McLaren‘s dominance, it was Gasly who clocked the fastest time with an impressive 1m29.239s, edging out Lando Norris.

Alpine Takes Top Spot in First Practice Session

The McLarens, particularly Norris, had been widely anticipated to dominate the running, but it was Gasly who ultimately set the pace. His impressive lap time saw him pip Norris to top spot, with the lead just 0.007s behind. Team-mate Oscar Piastri finished fourth, while Charles Leclerc of Ferrari took third.

Piastri immediately set the pace at the start of the weekend’s running, but Norris – who expressed a lack of confidence ahead of the fifth round of the championship – soon displaced the Australian. Despite his concerns, Norris did not expect to have corrected the issues with the driveability of the McLaren by Sunday’s race.

While Norris and Piastri continue to push one another, the usual suspects – George Russell for Mercedes and reigning world champion Max Verstappen – were once again there or thereabouts at the business end of the timing screens. Russell bested the pace of the McLaren duo until the soft tyres went on up and down the pit lane just heading into the second half of the hour-long session.

After that, it appeared as though it would be business as usual with Norris pumping in another fastest lap effort, only for Gasly to usurp the current championship leader with his own fine attempt. Williams also looked strong in the early running around the narrow and fast Jeddah Corniche Circuit, with Alex Albon fifth and Carlos Sainz seventh, sandwiching Russell.

Lewis Hamilton was over half a second down on Ferrari team-mate Leclerc and had to settle for eighth, with Verstappen – again bemoaning a lack of balance in his Red Bull – ninth. Yuki Tsuonda kept the Dutchman honest in 10th. Liam Lawson, demoted from Red Bull to Racing Bulls in a swap with Tsunoda ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, was next in 11th, less than a tenth of a second off the pace of his replacement.

F1 Saudi Arabian GP – FP1 Results

Here are the results from the first practice session of the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: