F1: Leclerc goes fastest in Saudi Arabia Practice 1

Using soft tires on his #16 Ferrari compared to Max Verstappen’s hard tires on his Red Bull, Charles Leclerc pipped Verstappen by 0.116s  to lead practice 1 for the Saudi Arabian GP on the streets of Jeddah.

Most other drivers set their fast time on the red soft Pirellis.

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 on hard tires during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on March 25, 2022 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Leclerc turned a lap of 1m30.772s  to lead the Dutchman, while Valtteri Bottas was again impressive with a 3rd best time, 0.312s behind in his Alfa Romeo.

Carlos Sainz Jr. was 4th in his #55 Ferrari, 0.367s behind his teammate.

AlphaTauri teammates Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsinoda were 5th and 6th.

Kevin Magnussen never made it out on track and did not set a time due to a hydraulic leak.

Practice 1 Results

POS NO DRIVER CAR TIME GAP Tire LAPS
1 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.772  +0.000 Soft 16
2 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing RBPT 1:30.888 +0.116s Hard 23
3 77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1:31.084 +0.312s Soft 21
4 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:31.139 +0.367s Soft 13
5 10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri RBPT 1:31.317 +0.545s Soft 27
6 22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri RBPT 1:31.505 +0.733s Soft 25
7 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing RBPT 1:31.563 +0.791s Soft 24
8 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 1:32.026 +1.254s Soft 25
9 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:32.364 +1.592s Soft 19
10 14 Fernando Alonso Alpine Renault 1:32.381 +1.609s Soft 22
11 3 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren Mercedes 1:32.506 +1.734s Medium 23
12 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Mercedes 1:32.582 +1.810s Soft 22
13 4 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 1:32.594 +1.822s Soft 23
14 24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1:32.608 +1.836s Soft 25
15 63 George Russell Mercedes 1:32.839 +2.067s Soft 18
16 27 Nico Hulkenberg Aston Martin Mercedes 1:33.034 +2.262s Soft 22
17 23 Alexander Albon Williams Mercedes 1:33.087 +2.315s Medium 24
18 6 Nicholas Latifi Williams Mercedes 1:33.529 +2.757s Hard 25
19 47 Mick Schumacher Haas Ferrari 1:34.429 +3.657s Medium 21
20 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari  No Time  No Time Medium 2