Saudi Arabian GP: Gasly Fastest in First Practice, Norris Second

Pierre Gasly surprised everyone by setting the fastest time for Alpine in the first practice session of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. McLaren`s Lando Norris was a close second.

Gasly used fresh soft tires later than most drivers, taking advantage of the cooler and improving track conditions. He beat Norris, who was leading the world championship, by a tiny margin of seven thousandths of a second.

Norris, who had earlier mentioned that McLaren`s 2025 car design required him to adapt his driving style after a disappointing race in Bahrain, showed a positive performance. He outperformed his teammate Oscar Piastri by almost a tenth of a second, which could be encouraging for him.

Piastri, fresh from his win in Bahrain and close behind Norris in the standings, had a minor scare. He slightly hit one of the walls at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit but still finished fourth, behind Ferrari`s Charles Leclerc.

Lewis Hamilton, driving for Mercedes, couldn`t match Leclerc`s speed and finished eighth, about half a second behind Gasly. He was just ahead of the current world champion Max Verstappen, who seemed to be struggling with his Red Bull car`s balance.

Williams also showed good speed, with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz finishing fifth and seventh respectively. George Russell in the other Mercedes was between them, unable to keep up his early pace on medium tires when others switched to softer compounds.

The second practice session on Friday evening is expected to give a clearer picture of the competitive order for the weekend. It will take place at night, under similar conditions to Saturday`s qualifying and Sunday`s race.

This session will also provide more insights into the effectiveness of the upgrades brought by Ferrari, Red Bull, and McLaren to Saudi Arabia.

McLaren has introduced a new diffuser and rear corner for their MCL39 car to maintain their early season form. Ferrari has brought an updated rear wing, and Red Bull has a new engine cover.

The Jeddah circuit is known for being high-speed and challenging, pushing drivers to gradually reach their limits before Saturday`s qualifying. Several drivers had close calls with the walls during the session.

The most significant contact with the wall was made by Haas driver Oliver Bearman. He locked up his front tires and hit the barrier with his front right, requiring a front wing replacement.

Traffic on the track was a persistent issue due to the circuit`s busy nature. Sainz expressed his frustration over the radio, complaining that Hamilton had let him pass in a dangerous section of the track.

Saudi Arabian GP Practice One Results