2024 Saudi Arabia GP: Verstappen tops FP1 ahead of Alonso and Perez
7th March 2024Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped the timing boards, in free practice 1, as the sport returned to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
On the 6.174km circuit, consisting of 27 turns, last week’s race winner and defending world champion, Verstappen continued with his impressive form under the Saudi Arabian sun.
Although Mercedes’ George Russell put in some competitive lap times part-way through the opening practice session, it wasn’t long before Verstappen took up the #1 spot on the timing sheets.
Living up to his car number, Verstappen occupied P1 at the end of first practice with a 1:29.659, ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and, teammate, Sergio Perez as they rounded out the top three, in order.
Russell and Leclerc completed the top five, in fourth and fifth. Only three-tenths separated fifth-placed Leclerc from Verstappen’s best time.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz led the bottom half of the top 10, in sixth, ahead of former teammate and McLaren driver Lando Norris in seventh. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Williams’ Alexander Albon completed the top 10, in eighth, ninth and 10th respectively.
Stroll was the last driver to remain within a second of Verstappen whereas Albon was just 1.088s slower than Verstappen’s time.
Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas topped the bottom 10, in 11th, as RB’s Daniel Ricciardo occupied 12th.
Esteban Ocon, who would be hoping for a better weekend for the team – compared to the Bahrain Grand Prix – finished opening practice in 13th. William’s Logan Sargeant was P14 as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri completed the top 15.
Of the bottom five, it was Yuki Tsunoda (RB), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Guanyu Zhou (Sauber) in 16th, 17th and 18th. The Haas duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen rounded out the 20 drivers down in 19th and 20th, respectively.
That’s all for the article; 2024 Saudi Arabia GP: Verstappen tops FP1 ahead of Alonso and Perez!
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- Mercedes surprise as Hamilton tops FP2 of 2024 Bahrain GP
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
