Defending world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull set the pace in the opening practice session for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, beating Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso by just under two tenths of a second, with Sergio Pérez third in the other Red Bull car.
In the opening part of the session it was George Russell that led the way as drivers ran through tyre evaluation programmes on the high-speed Jeddah Corniche circuit. The Mercedes driver chipped away at his times as he worked his way towards a comfort zone, eventually working his way down to a time of 1:30.554 on Medium tyres.
McLaren’s Lando Norris this bolted on a set of Soft tyres and the Briton went marginally ahead of the Mercedes with a time of 1:30.424s.
Verstappen, who had run Hard tyres earlier in the session, then also moved to C4s and he went well clear of Norris with a lap of 1:30.014.
Russell was the next to switch to the red-walled rubber and he put in a strong lap to reclaim top spot, though only by the very slim margin of 0.003s. Verstappen wasn’t finished, however, and his next attempt on Softs saw him stop the clock at 1:29.659, a lap that vaulted him ahead of Russell and which kept him at the top of the timesheet until the end of the session.
Russell did edge closer, posting a 1:29.939 on his next lap but he was nudged back by Perez’s 1:29.868 which briefly put the Mexican, who triumphed at this track last year, into second place behind his team-mate. However, Alonso then pumped in a lap of 1:29.845 to take the runner-up position in the FP1 order.
Behind Pérez, Russell held on to fourth place ahead of the Ferrari pairing of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Norris slid to seventh at the flag, just 0.005s clear of Lewis Hamilton in the other Mercedes.
Ninth place went to Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who finished over three tenths of a second off Hamilton. The Canadian made it to P9 after undergoing repairs for front left damage sustained when he clipped the wall in the inside of Turn 21 early in the session.
Williams’ Alex Albon completed the top 10, a good result for the Thai driver who prioritised Medium tyres in the session.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:29.659 24
2 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:29.845 0.186 24
3 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 1:29.868 0.209 23
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:29.939 0.280 23
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.030 0.371 24
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:30.164 0.505 24
7 Lando Norris McLaren 1:30.231 0.572 26
8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:30.236 0.577 21
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:30.580 0.921 1
10 Alexander Albon Williams 1:30.747 1.088 26
11 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 1:30.783 1.124 26
12 Daniel Ricciardo RB 1:30.917 1.258 25
13 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:30.945 1.286 27
14 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:30.966 1.307 27
15 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:30.977 1.318 22
16 Yuki Tsunoda RB 1:31.036 1.377 25
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:31.046 1.387 25
18 Zhou Guanyu Sauber 1:31.131 1.472 24
19 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:31.411 1.752 19
20 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:31.577 1.918 18