Lewis Hamilton narrowly led title rival Max Verstappen as Formula 1 cars hit Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the first time on Friday afternoon.
It marks Formula 1’s inaugural visit to Saudi Arabia, as the first event in a 10-season deal, with Jeddah selected as the location for 2021 and 2022, when it will feature as the second round in March.
The circuit itself was only completed in recent weeks while some of the non-essential infrastructure at the venue remains a work in progress.
A season-most 27 corners are recognised – though several are barely noticeable for Formula 1 cars – while at 6.1km Jeddah is the second-longest track on the calendar behind Spa-Francorchamps.
The event is night-based, with qualifying scheduled for 20:00 and the race for 20:30 local time, though the opening session took place at dusk.
Hamilton heads Verstappen
Hamilton’s best time of 1:29.786s came on Soft tyres as drivers gradually acclimatised to the high-speed circuit.
That left the reigning World Champion just 0.056s clear of points leader Verstappen after the opening hour of running.
Verstappen had laid down a rapid benchmark during the early stages on Hard tyres but had to back out of two Soft tyre laps, the first due to a mistake at Turn 22, and the second after encountering Esteban Ocon at Turn 1.
Verstappen went again during the closing stages of the session to move to within 0.056s of Hamilton.
Little drama during first session
Despite the high average lap speed, and the close proximity of the walls, the opening hour passed without any major issues for the drivers.
The main problems came when some drivers encountered rivals on a slow lap due to the relatively small width of the circuit, the lack of visibility through some curves, and the high-speed nature of the lap.
Some drivers had to abort push laps while Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll gestured at Haas’ Nikita Mazepin after being impeded through the first sector.
Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas was third in the session, with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly fourth, and outgoing Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi a surprise fifth.
Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc classified sixth and seventh respectively, as McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top 10.
Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez was a subdued 11th in the final reckoning.
Second practice for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is scheduled for 17:00 local time
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