World Champion Max Verstappen set the fastest time during the opening practice session for Formula 1’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Verstappen moved to the front on a time of 1:29.659s in the daytime session at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, which was held in hot and breezy conditions.
Verstappen’s lap left him 0.186s clear of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, with Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, who claimed victory at Jeddah from pole position in 2023, holding third.
George Russell had been the quickest driver on the Hard tyres earlier in the session and edged Verstappen by three-thousands of a second on the first Soft tyre laps.
But Verstappen, winner at Jeddah in 2022, duly lowered the benchmark at a circuit which was just one of three where he failed to claim victory in 2023, before Alonso and Perez slotted in ahead.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fifth-quickest, ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz, who had been absent from Wednesday’s media activities due to illness.
Leclerc was one of several drivers to complain about rubbish blowing around the circuit, with a couple of drivers striking loose bin bags.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was seventh, ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, while Lance Stroll recovered from an early brush with the wall to classify ninth.
Stroll turned in too early into the high-speed Turn 22, brushing the left-hand-side of the wall, with a couple of components falling from his Aston Martin AMR24.
Stroll’s tap with the wall was the main incident of note during the course of the one-hour session.
Williams’ Alexander Albon rounded out the top 10, ahead of Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
Haas remained at the bottom of the timesheets as it opted against completing Soft tyre runs during the session.
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