Max Verstappen maintained Red Bull’s strong start to the 2024 Formula 1 season by topping Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in first practice at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Verstappen, who began his quest for a fourth successive drivers’ title with a dominant victory in Bahrain last week, finished almost 0.2s clear of Alonso at the Jeddah street circuit.
Sergio Perez, who beat team-mate Verstappen to victory in Saudi Arabia last year, also showed solid pace to take third as Red Bull threatened to continue the form that saw them win 21 of 22 races in 2023.
George Russell appeared the far more comfortable of the two Mercedes drivers as the Brit took fourth, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton almost 0.3s slower in eighth.
Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fifth and sixth respectively, with Lando Norris seventh for McLaren as team-mate Oscar Piastri struggled in 15th.
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A couple of plastic bags caused mayhem for Charles Leclerc during P1 in Saudi Arabia
Lance Stroll was ninth for Aston Martin after missing about 20 minutes off the session following a high-speed collision with the barrier at the inside of Turn 22, from which he was fortunate to avoid major damage.
While Red Bull continued to impress, Thursday’s second session, live on Sky Sports F1 at 5pm, provides the same night-time conditions that both Friday’s qualifying and Saturday’s race will take place under, and therefore should be a much more reliable indicator of the pecking order for the remainder of the weekend.
Russell, who outperformed Hamilton as he took fourth in Bahrain last week, topped the timesheet after the initial hard-tyre runs.
The 26-year-old continued to impress as he reclaimed top spot after the first soft tyre runs, but Verstappen took advantage of the low tyre degradation levels at the circuit to significantly improve on the same set.
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Max Verstappen continued his impressive start to the 2024 season
Perez then slotted in ahead of Russell, before Alonso, the last of the front-runners to go for a performance run as the track continued to improve, took second.
“It’s a bit of journey of exploration at the moment in terms of downforce levels,” Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok explained.
“The circuit seems to sit in between the optimum for most teams. Most of them have basically got two configurations, a high and low, and it’s about where you end up in terms of wing choice. We saw quite a lot of experimenting and it’s very early days still.”
Saudi Arabian GP Practice One Timesheet
Driver
Team
Time
1) Max Verstappen
Red Bull
1:29.659
2) Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin
+0.186
3) Sergio Perez
Red Bull
+0.209
4) George Russell
Mercedes
+0.280
5) Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
+0.371
6) Carlos Sainz
Ferrari
+0.505
7) Lando Norris
McLaren
+0.572
8) Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
+0.577
9) Lance Stroll
Aston Martin
+0.921
10) Alex Albon
Williams
+1.088
11) Valtteri Bottas
Sauber
+1.124
12) Daniel Ricciardo
RB
+1.258
13) Esteban Ocon
Alpine
+1.286
14) Logan Sargeant
Williams
+1.307
15) Oscar Piastri
McLaren
+1.318
16) Yuki Tsunoda
RB
+1.377
17) Pierre Gasly
Alpine
+1.387
18) Zhou Guanyu
Sauber
+1.472
19) Nico Hulkenberg
Haas
+1.752
20) Kevin Magnussen
Haas
+1.918
Sky Sports F1’s live Saudi Arabian GP schedule
Thursday March 7
4.45pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Two (session starts at 5pm)6.15pm: F1 Academy Qualifying7.15pm: The F1 Show
Friday March 8
11.55am: F1 Academy Race 11.10pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Three (session starts at 1.30pm)3.05pm: F2 Sprint Race4.10pm: Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying build-up5pm: SAUDI ARABIAN GP QUALIFYING
Saturday March 9
12pm: F1 Academy Race 21.20pm: F2 Feature Race3.30pm: Saudi Arabian GP build-up: Grand Prix Saturday5pm: THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX7pm: Saudi Arabian GP reaction: Chequered flag9.30pm: Saudi Arabian GP highlights
Watch the second round of the new F1 season – the Saudi Arabian GP – live on Sky Sports F1 this coming week, with practice on Thursday, qualifying on Friday and the race at 5pm on Saturday. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership for just £21 a month for 12 months
Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight showdown with Francis Ngannou takes place on Friday March 8, live on Sky Sports Box Office with the main event expected around 11pm. Book Joshua v Ngannou now!