Saudi Arabia Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: Red Bull and Aston Martin still leading
Red Bull and Aston Martin continue their domination after this first free practice session, while in the midfield, the hierarchy remains difficult to determine.
These free practice 1 sessions took place under the sun in Jeddah, far from the actual race conditions which will take place at night. The track was still very dusty, even after the F2 cars had passed earlier in the day.
2023 Updates: The rumble strips have been replaced, while the angle of certain walls has been modified. These safety measures have been taken to enhance security following Mick Schumacher’s crash in 2021 and the complaints from the drivers in 2022.
A tight session
Nyck de Vries was the first one to hit the track. Diligently, the teams then followed with laps during this first unrepresentative hour of the session. This circuit is only the second one used by the cars this season, as they had previously only raced in Bahrain. Therefore, it is a new test starting for the teams, who are currently focused on data collection, especially considering it’s the first street circuit of the year.
The first scare was for Carlos Sainz who narrowly avoided hitting a slow AlphaTauri, luckily without consequences. A little later, it was Lance Stroll who had a fright by nearly hitting the wall.
If Max Verstappen started late, he quickly proved to be faster than the rest of the grid. At the halfway point, the world champion held the best time, only 15 milliseconds ahead of Fernando Alonso. Sergio Perez completes the top three while Lando Norris brings up the rear.
On the Alpine side, quite a few aerodynamic changes are worth noting, especially concerning the side mirrors. The two French drivers, in fact, spent a lot of time in the garage. Pierre Gasly, who set the eighth fastest time, complained about his brakes over the radio at the end of the session. On the other hand, Ferrari focused on long stints and used flow-vis to analyze the airflow on the car.
In the second part of the session, everyone gradually switched to soft tires without it having any impact on the standings. At the end of these first tests, Max Verstappen still has the fastest time, followed by his teammate Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso. George Russell is fifth behind Lance Stroll. Lando Norris remains in last place.
The second testing session will take place at night and can be followed from 5:40 pm on Canal+.
The ranking of Free Practice 1
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verstappen | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:29.662 | 18 | |
| 2 | Perez | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:30.100 | +0.438 | 20 |
| 3 | Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | 1:30.315 | +0.653 | 22 |
| 4 | Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | 1:30.577 | +0.915 | 20 |
| 5 | Russell | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:30.771 | +1.109 | 26 |
| 6 | Hamilton | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:30.787 | +1.125 | 26 |
| 7 | Sainz | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:30.924 | +1.262 | 23 |
| 8 | Gasly | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1:30.949 | +1.287 | 24 |
| 9 | Albon | Williams Racing | 1:31.030 | +1.368 | 23 |
| 10 | Tsunoda | Scuderia AlphaTauri | 1:31.110 | +1.448 | 25 |
| 11 | Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:31.118 | +1.456 | 26 |
| 12 | Ocon | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1:31.181 | +1.519 | 22 |
| 13 | De Vries | Scuderia AlphaTauri | 1:31.450 | +1.788 | 29 |
| 14 | Piastri | McLaren F1 Team | 1:31.491 | +1.829 | 24 |
| 15 | Hülkenberg | Haas F1 Team | 1:31.552 | +1.890 | 22 |
| 16 | Magnussen | Haas F1 Team | 1:31.566 | +1.904 | 23 |
| 17 | Sargeant | Williams Racing | 1:31.922 | +2.260 | 26 |
| 18 | Bottas | Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN | 1:31.970 | +2.308 | 25 |
| 19 | Guanyu | Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN | 1:31.986 | +2.324 | 22 |
| 20 | Norris | McLaren F1 Team | 1:32.149 | +2.487 | 21 |
