World Champion Max Verstappen opened Formula 1’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend comfortably clear at the top of the timesheets.
Verstappen missed Thursday’s activities due to a stomach complaint but fronted proceedings during the opening one-hour practice session on Friday afternoon.
In the daytime session Verstappen clocked several times quick enough for top spot, the fastest being a 1:29.617s, ensuring he held a margin of almost half a second to Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez.
READ MORE: F1 2023 Saudi Arabian GP – FP1 Results
Verstappen claimed victory at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit last season and opened the 2023 campaign with a dominant victory in Bahrain 12 days ago.
Fernando Alonso continued his and Aston Martin’s encouraging start to the season by finishing third, in front of team-mate Lance Stroll.
Alonso, six-tenths behind Verstappen, was a front-runner throughout the session while Stroll vaulted up the order late on.
Stroll had languished outside of the top 10 after encountering traffic through Turn 11 before sliding wide at the slightly reprofiled Turn 22 section.
Mercedes wound up fifth and sixth respectively, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton both over a second behind pacesetter Verstappen.
Carlos Sainz was the lead Ferrari driver in sixth, 1.3s off the pace, as Charles Leclerc finished down in 11th position.
The pair have both taken on fresh power units as a precaution, following Leclerc’s Bahrain failure, with the Monegasque’s 10-place grid drop having been confirmed earlier in the week.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took eighth place, while Williams’ Alexander Albon and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda posted eye-catching laps to round out the top 10 respectively.
McLaren’s challenging start to the season continued as Oscar Piastri was its lead representative in 14 spot, with Lando Norris slowest of the 20 participants.
Haas and Alfa Romeo also had low-key displays during the opening hour, with Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen 15th and 16th respectively, while Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu finished ahead of only Norris.
Second practice for Formula 1’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is scheduled for 20:00 local time
