We had a clean first practice session out in Saudi Arabia, where we saw a shocking Pierre Gasly set the fastest time ahead of Lando Norris. Norris seems to be much happier with the car this time around, while his teammate had a harder time, down in fourth. Charles Leclerc was the one who managed to get between the two McLaren drivers. The pair that had a hard time was Verstappen and Tsunoda, where Max was repeatedly complaining about the Red Bull. They finished only ninth and tenth, Verstappen ahead. The Mercedes of George Russell had been looking strong, however as everyone put on the soft tires, he couldn’t seem to make them work as well as everyone above him, and ended the session sixth, in between both Williams drivers.
Below are the full results of the first Free Practice Session in Saudi Arabia.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:29.239 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.007 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.070 |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +0.102 |
| 5 | Alex Albon | Williams | +0.367 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.379 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +0.540 |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +0.576 |
| 9 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.579 |
| 10 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | +0.582 |
| 11 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +0.668 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber | +0.677 |
| 13 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +0.695 |
| 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +0.737 |
| 15 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | +0.772 |
| 16 | Jack Doohan | Alpine | +0.944 |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +1.344 |
| 18 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | +1.356 |
| 19 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | +1.790 |
| 20 | Gabirel Bortoleto | Kick Sauber | +1.799 |
