Pierre Gasly surprised the field by topping FP1 in F1 Saudi Arabian GP by close margin over Lando Norris, as Charles Leclerc popped up in third.
Under the sunlight, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly made the most of his new power unit element to set pace in FP1 with a 1m29.239s lap in F1 Saudi Arabian GP, to leapfrog McLaren’s Lando Norris by just the 0.007s margin, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was 0.070s away from the Frenchman.
The lock-ups hurt several drivers which included a large one for Haas’ Oliver Bearman where he locked-up all four wheel to brush the barrier. It was unseen on the world feed but McLaren’s Oscar Piastri noted about brushing the wall as well, as did Ferrari’s Leclerc.
The likes of McLaren’s Lando Norris, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, Gasly and Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli had a moment to take the run-off on their way. Outside the Top 3, Piastri was fourth from Williams’ Alexander Albon, as the British outfit continued their goodish run.
Mercedes’ George Russell was sixth from Williams’ Carlos Sainz, who escaped a potential hit against a Ferrari whom he caught at a high-speed section – the matter was not taken up for an investigation. Hamilton, meanwhile, was eighth ahead of Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda.
All three were close to each other, as Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson was 11th after the team elected to run out of sequence for their qualifying trim. Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg was 12th from Antonelli, as Fernando Alonso was the lead Aston Martin in 14th from Visa Cash App RB’s Isack Hadjar.
It took Hadjar couple of laps to set a lap after traffic issues. Alpine’s Jack Doohan was 16th from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, as Haas pair of Bearman and Esteban Ocon slotted in 18th and 19th, while Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto rounded out the 20 runners – everyone until Doohan finished within a second of Gasly’s time.
The power unit element list saw several taking new ones for F1 Saudi Arabian GP. All four of the Honda-powered cars of Verstappen, Tsunoda, Hadjar and Lawson feature on the list. The former three took their second ICE, TC, MGU-H and MGU-K, as the latter took third ICE, TC, MGU-H and MGU-K. In addition, Gasly took his second ICE, TC, MGU-H and MGU-K, while Doohan took his third of these four.
Here’s PU elements detail: https://www.fia.com/system/files/decision-document/2025_saudi_arabian_grand_prix_-_new_pu_elements_for_this_competition.pdf
