Alpine Shows Early Pace in Jeddah: Pierre Gasly topped the timesheets in the first free practice session for the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, held under hot and humid conditions at the Jeddah Street Circuit. The Alpine driver’s fastest lap of 1:29.239 was just seven-thousandths of a second quicker than McLaren’s Lando Norris, who also showed strong early pace. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three, finishing just 0.070 seconds adrift of Gasly, indicating a potentially close battle at the front as the weekend progresses.
Early Benchmarks and Tyre Strategies: The session began with Mercedes’ George Russell setting the initial benchmark on a harder tyre compound. However, as the session unfolded, teams began to explore the circuit’s grip levels and tyre performance. Williams’ Carlos Sainz briefly jumped to second place after bolting on a set of the softer Pirelli tyres. McLaren’s Lando Norris then responded with his own soft tyre run, rocketing to the top of the timesheet before Gasly’s eventual fastest lap. This early running suggested that the soft compound tyre could play a significant role throughout the weekend, offering considerable grip but potentially with higher degradation over longer runs.
Midfield Battles Shaping Up: Behind the top three, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished fourth, despite experiencing a malfunctioning drinks system during the session. Williams’ Alex Albon was the highest-placed of the Williams drivers in fifth, demonstrating encouraging pace for the team. George Russell ended the session in sixth for Mercedes, followed by Carlos Sainz in seventh. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was eighth, trailing his teammate Leclerc by over half a second. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the reigning champion, finished a relatively low ninth, with his teammate Yuki Tsunoda completing the top ten, just three-thousandths of a second behind Verstappen. This tight midfield pack suggests that competition for points beyond the top teams could be fierce throughout the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend.
Notable Performances and Potential Surprises: Several other drivers showed flashes of pace during the FP1 session. Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson finished just outside the top ten in eleventh, while Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg was twelfth. Mercedes junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, making his Formula 1 debut this weekend, finished a respectable thirteenth. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was fourteenth, and Racing Bulls’ stand-in driver Isack Hadjar completed the top fifteen. The relatively close gaps throughout the field in this first practice session hint at the potential for surprises as teams further refine their setups and drivers become more familiar with the challenging Jeddah Street Circuit. The hot and humid conditions also present a physical challenge for the drivers and a potential factor in tyre management strategies.
Free Practice 1 Results:
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine/Renault) – 1:29.239
- Lando Norris (McLaren/Mercedes) – +0.007
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – +0.070
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren/Mercedes) – +0.102
- Alexander Albon (Williams/Mercedes) – +0.367
- George Russell (Mercedes) – +0.379
- Carlos Sainz (Williams/Mercedes) – +0.540
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – +0.576
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull/Honda RBPT) – +0.579
- Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull/Honda RBPT) – +0.582
- Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT) – +0.668
- Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber/Ferrari) – +0.677
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – +0.695
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin/Mercedes) – +0.737
- Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT) – +0.772
- Jack Doohan (Alpine/Renault) – +0.944
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin/Mercedes) – +1.344
- Oliver Bearman (Haas/Ferrari) – +1.356
- Esteban Ocon (Haas/Ferrari) – +1.790
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber/Ferrari) – +1.799
Disclaimer: FP1 results are preliminary and may not be indicative of overall performance throughout the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend. Track conditions and car setups can change significantly between practice sessions.
Source: FIA
AI Assistance: Gemini