Max Verstappenset the pace in the first practice session of the weekend in Jeddah for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The championship leader’s best time of a 1’29.659 on soft tyres was just under two tenths of a second slower than Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.Sergio Perez was third fastest in the second Red Bull with George Russell fourth for Mercedes ahead of the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jnr.
It was a blustery start to the weekend, with wind speeds of over 22kph heading north across the high speed circuit. The wind had the effect of blowing many plastic bags onto the circuit. Pierre Gasly, Logan Sargeant and Charles Leclerc all collected debris from the circuit on their cars, although none appeared to experience any significant problems.
There were no yellow flag incidents during the first hour of running. However Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll clipped the wall at the apex of the 200kph left hander of turn 22, causing damage to the rear left of his car. Fortunately for Stroll, he continued after quick repair work in the garage.
All teams ran on the soft compound except for RB and Haas, whose four drivers only ran on either the hards or the mediums.
Haas were slowest, with Nico Hulkenberg 19th and Kevin Magnussen 20th, and also covered the fewest laps of the 10 teams.
Daniel Ricciardo was the fastest through the speed trap with 339kph, while Alpine was the slowest in 18th and 20th in the speed trap for Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, respectively.
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2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix first practice result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB20 | 1’29.659 | 24 | |
| 2 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | AMR24 | 1’29.845 | 0.186 | 24 |
| 3 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB20 | 1’29.868 | 0.209 | 23 |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W15 | 1’29.939 | 0.280 | 23 |
| 5 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-24 | 1’30.030 | 0.371 | 24 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | SF-24 | 1’30.164 | 0.505 | 24 |
| 7 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL38 | 1’30.231 | 0.572 | 26 |
| 8 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | W15 | 1’30.236 | 0.577 | 21 |
| 9 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | AMR24 | 1’30.580 | 0.921 | 18 |
| 10 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW46 | 1’30.747 | 1.088 | 26 |
| 11 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber-Ferrari | C44 | 1’30.783 | 1.124 | 26 |
| 12 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB-Honda RBPT | 01 | 1’30.917 | 1.258 | 25 |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | A524 | 1’30.945 | 1.286 | 27 |
| 14 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | FW46 | 1’30.966 | 1.307 | 27 |
| 15 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL38 | 1’30.977 | 1.318 | 22 |
| 16 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | 01 | 1’31.036 | 1.377 | 25 |
| 17 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | A524 | 1’31.046 | 1.387 | 25 |
| 18 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber-Ferrari | C44 | 1’31.131 | 1.472 | 24 |
| 19 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | VF-24 | 1’31.411 | 1.752 | 18 |
| 20 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | VF-24 | 1’31.577 | 1.918 | 16 |
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2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
- Vowles being patient with Sargeant but expects to see “progress”
- “So I’ve got nothing to worry about?” – The best unheard team radio from Jeddah
- “Shock” of poor start to season showed need for change at Alpine – Famin
- “My tyres are dying”: Stroll’s short-lived struggle until he hit the wall
- Bearman calls Ferrari debut a “dream” but admits “I made a lot of mistakes”
Ed (@emfar)
7th March 2024, 15:39
“The championship leader’s best time of a 1’29.659 on soft tyres was just under two tenths of a second slower than Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.“
I think you mean faster.
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
7th March 2024, 15:47
Never mind about FP1, what’s happening with the Horner/Red Bull situation?!
Asd
7th March 2024, 17:49
Horner so far has won 20 points and is leading the accusations by 4 points. He looks to win it.
Dan Rooke (@geekzilla9000)
7th March 2024, 18:10
I heard his diffuser had been blown.