Verstappen sets the pace in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix FP1
Verstappen dominated the first practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, finishing ahead of his teammate Perez by 0.438 seconds. Despite his impressive pace, the Red Bull driver complained of understeer.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen led the way in the opening practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but he was pushed hard by his teammate Sergio Perez and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
With a track temperature of 42°C and rising, the drivers faced a tough challenge in the sweltering heat.
Nyck de Vries, the only driver without any previous experience on the Jeddah circuit, was the first man out on track.
Meanwhile, Perez had a bit of trouble getting out of the Red Bull garage due to the tight pit lane, but he soon found his rhythm and set the early pace on soft tyres.
Lewis Hamilton briefly went faster than Perez, but the Mexican responded with an impressive lap to regain the top spot.
Charles Leclerc was also in the mix, while Ferrari had three front wings laid out for comparison tests.
Verstappen, who arrived late for the race weekend due to a stomach bug, took his time before heading out for his first run of the afternoon.
With a set of fresh soft tyres, the Dutchman quickly made his mark and edged ahead of Alonso’s Aston Martin.
Although Verstappen wasn’t entirely happy with his car’s handling, he continued to up his pace and set the fastest time of the session, a 1:29.662, on his eighth lap on the soft tyres.
His teammate Perez was just over four-tenths behind in second place, with Alonso a further two-tenths back in third.
Verstappen acknowledged that there was room for improvement, noting that there was a lot of understeer at Turn 22: “Like it doesn’t want to turn at all.” However, the minimal degradation of his tyres allowed him to push hard and set a blistering pace.
Other drivers struggled with the tricky circuit conditions, with Pierre Gasly calling his Alpine’s brakes “rubbish” and Lando Norris being shown a black-and-white flag for failing to follow the race directors’ instructions.
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