Charles Leclerc ended up fastest in FP1 of F1 Saudi Arabian GP from Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas to make it three different teams in Top 10.
The FP1 in F1 Saudi Arabian GP was red-flagged early on for a brake marker board coming off from the fencing. Replays showed it getting loosened for couple of laps before hanging on the side of the wall when McLaren’s Lando Norris smashed it into pieces.
There were some off moments for multiple drivers in the session, with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen missing the whole session after facing a hydraulic leak. They needed to change the radiator which left him with no time after an installation lap.
There were changes for multiple drivers to start the session, with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly taking all-new power unit after his Bahrain issue, i.e ICE, TC, CE, MGU-H, MGU-K and ES. The Frenchman also took a new gearbox along with Norris from last event.
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso took a new ICE as a precaution, along with TC, MGU-H and MGU-K whereas Red Bull’s Sergio Perez took a new TC and MGU-H. Meanwhile, in the standings Ferrari’s Leclerc led the way after setting a late 1m30.772s lap.
He displaced Red Bull’s Verstappen (1m30.888s) – who set his best time on the hard tyres – as Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas (1m31.084s) popped into third after a late lap to push Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (1m31.139s) to fourth.
The pair of AlphaTauri slotted in fifth and sixth behind. It was Gasly (1m31.317s) ahead of Yuki Tsunoda (1m31.505s), with Red Bull’s Perez (1m31.563s) in seventh from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m23.026s) who led Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m32.364s).
Ocon’s teammate Fernando Alonso (1m32.381s) rounded out the Top 10, with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m32.506s) have a better run in 11th with teammate Lando Norris (1m32.594s) 13th behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m32.582s).
While his teammate was third, Guanyu Zhou (1m32.608s) was 14th from Mercedes’ George Russell (1m32.839s) in the Top 15, with Aston Martin’s Nico Hulkenberg (1m33.034s) 16th. The German continues to drive with Sebastian Vettel not feeling great after COVID-19.
The Williams pair of Alexander Albon (1m33.087s) and Nicholas Latifi (1m33.529s) slotted in 17th and 18th, with Haas’ Mick Schumacher (1m34.429s) 19th – where the latter set his time on the medium compound.
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