Verstappen heads sole dusty and windy Qatar practice

Max Verstappen set the pace during the sole practice session at a dusty and windy Lusail International Circuit in Qatar.

Qatar’s only previous round came in 2021, when it was a late stand-in for the axed Australian event in a pandemic-hit season, but it has re-joined the schedule on a 10-year deal.

Lusail has been retained as the host circuit and while the layout has been unaltered since 2021 the venue has undergone extensive renovation works.

That includes a full resurfacing of the track, alterations to the kerbs, and a total rebuilding of the pits and paddock complex.

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Friday’s sole 60-minute session took place at sunset with drivers encountering gusty and dusty conditions.

Verstappen said it was “so slippery” in the early stages of the session while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz quipped that “my Dad would be quick in these conditions.”

Verstappen worked his way down to a 1:27.428s on Soft tyres though that was still four seconds off the pace of the corresponding session from 2021.

Sainz finished second, 0.334s behind Verstappen, with his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in third position.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso set his best lap time on Medium tyres, winding up in fourth place, ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.

AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda was sixth, ahead of Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, with George Russell the lead Mercedes driver in eighth position.

McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris rounded out the top 10.

With Qatar hosting F1 Sprint teams and drivers must now lock in set-ups for the remainder of the weekend ahead of qualifying at 20:00 local time