Saudi Arabia Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: Max Verstappen in contact with Lewis Hamilton

For the first time in its history, Formula 1 has set its wheels in Saudi Arabia and more precisely on the new track of Jeddah. With two races left in the championship, Max Verstappen arrives as the leader, but with only an 8-point lead over Lewis Hamilton.

The first 20 minutes

The Formula 1 cars immediately made their way between the walls of this new track, a fast and long layout that will test both the cars and the drivers.

Max Verstappen was the first to set a real reference time at 1:33.614 (hard tires). The vast majority of drivers are familiar with the track, having trained on simulators. Only Kimi Räikkönen, a future retiree from F1, admitted in a press conference that he had not prepared at all for this Grand Prix.

Max clocks a 1:33.614 around the ultrafast Jeddah Corniche Circuit to take top spot early on ☝️#SaudiArabianGP 🇸🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/VnX32hAiTZ

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 3, 2021

It has been observed that the teams on the grid were sporting a logo paying tribute to Sir Frank Williams, who passed away last weekend. A key figure in Formula 1, the founder of the eponymous team, Frank Williams had retired from F1 several years ago.

Traffic will be of crucial importance in qualifying, as the narrowness of the track and the blind turns will make overtaking difficult during the fast laps.

After 20 minutes of exploration on this track in Jeddah, Max Verstappen was leading the discussions with a time of 1:30.354 on hard tires, ahead of Lando Norris (+0.801) and Charles Leclerc (+0.904).

At midday

As soon as he returned to the pits, the Red Bull mechanics rushed to the rear wing of the Dutch driver’s single-seater. It seems that concern about the rear wing is still a top priority for the Austrian team.

If Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have gotten closer to Max Verstappen’s time, it would still seem that the soft tires of the Mercedes are more worn than those of the Red Bulls.

Author of the second fastest time with 20 minutes left in the hard tire session (1:30.014), Max Verstappen, on soft tires, had not yet managed to improve his time. Valtteri Bottas was at the top of the time sheet (1:30.009) ahead of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. On his side, Sergio Perez seemed to be struggling, only 13th at this point in the session.

“****** this track is cool!” – @ValtteriBottas

Jeddah’s newest fan goes quickest with a time of 1:30.009 ⏱#SaudiArabianGP 🇸🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/jtWJDN4akW

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 3, 2021

The last 20 minutes

The lap times are dropping, like the sun on the Jeddah track. With just over 10 minutes remaining in the session, Lewis Hamilton went under the 1 minute 29 mark, with a time of 1:29.786. Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen were close behind (+0.223 and +0.228).

Surprisingly, Max Verstappen was unable to set a fast time with a set of soft tires. His reference time remained the one set with the hardest tires provided by Pirelli.

After a nightmarish race in Qatar, Pierre Gasly once again placed his AlphaTauri in the top 5 ahead of a surprising Antonio Giovinazzi in fifth place.

Well positioned in the race for 3rd place in the constructor’s championship, Scuderia Ferrari placed its two cars in 6th and 7th place in the timing rankings. They were ahead of their rivals from McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo (8th) and Lando Norris (12th).

Lighting it up ✨#SaudiArabianGP 🇸🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/NsgGL447Sj

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 3, 2021

Timing ranking