Formula 1 News: Verstappen tops FP1 for Saudi Arabian GP

Defending World Driving Champion Max Verstappen topped opening practice for the Saudi Arabian GP in his Red Bull Honda.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

On a windy day in Jeddah, Verstappen put up a lap of 1m29.659s mid-session on the soft Pirelli tires, and he was never headed.

The Dutchman looking fairly comfortable out there and not complaining of the shifting issues that plagued him in practice last weekend.  However, he was complaining of engine throttle issues.  Might be throttle or engine mapping issues.

Fernando Alonso went late and jumped up to second, 0.186s behind the Dutchman.

Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was 3rd quick, 0.2s behind his teammate.

George Russell was 4th for Mercedes, 0.280s back and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc rounded out the top-5.

RB and Haas didn’t run the soft tires in that session at all, opting instead for plenty of work on the medium and hard compounds. They’ll be bolting on the softs later on once the sun sets, and the representative conditions begin.

Lance Stroll hit the wall and damaged his left-front corner. His team struggled to remove the wheel from the car in the garage.

Practice 2 in 2 hours will be faster once the sun sets.

2024 Saudi Arabian GP Practice 1 Results