Gasly pips Norris to fastest time in Saudi Arabian GP FP1
18th April 2025Alpine’s Pierre Gasly set the fastest time on the board, pipping McLaren’s Lando Norris, in the first hour of practice at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Feature image credit: CC
It was business as usual as Formula 1 returned to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the final round of the triple header, consisting of visits to Japan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Despite it being late in the day, before the sun set, the teams and drivers still had to deal with hot conditions out on track. Many of the drivers were fitted with the yellow-ringed medium compounds for their initial laps around the Jeddah Circuit.
It was a well-behaved session from all those involved, apart from close run-ins with the barrier for some, like Gasly and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. However, the first hour went off without a yellow flag or red flag.
Verstappen tells Sky F1 commentator to ‘focus on commentating’ at Saudi Arabian GP
How did the first practice session finish?
Gasly was the pacesetter after the first hour of practice with a lap time of 1m 29.239s, 0.007s faster than Norris and seven-hundredths faster than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who completed the top three.
Last week’s race winner, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Williams’ Alexander Albon rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth, respectively. The latter, three tenths off the pace.
Mercdes George Russell was sixth ahead of Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Hamilton, in seventh and eighth, whilst the Red Bull Racing duo of Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10, in ninth and 10th.
Racing Bull’s Liam Lawson topped the bottom 10 in 11th ahead of Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, in 12th and 13th. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lawson’s teammate Isack Hadjar rounded out the top 15, respectively.
This left the bottom five positions to go to Alpine’s Jack Doohan, in 16th, ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, 17th. The Haas duo could only best 18th and 19th, with Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman, as Kick Sauber sat last with Gabriel Bortoleto, 1.7s off the pace.
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Verstappen tells Sky F1 commentator to ‘focus on commentating’ at Saudi Arabian GP
- Minor track changes to Jeddah track ahead of F1 Saudi Arabian GP
- Weather report: the latest forecast for the F1 Saudi Arabian GP
- Winners and Losers of F1 Bahrain GP
- F1 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix / Results
- George Russell escapes punishment for DRS activation at Bahrain GP
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from the world of Motorsport! You can also support us on Patreon or our website!
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.
