A surprising Pierre Gasly leads the first practice in Jeddah

Pierre Gasly was the fastest driver in the opening session of the weekend in Jeddah, with a time of 1:29.239. Lando Norris took second place, just 0.007 of a second behind, while Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three, 0.070 of a second behind the leader.

Photo: Alpine

This weekend, the drivers face one of the most challenging circuits on the calendar: the Jeddah street circuit. It's the second fastest of the entire season, behind only Monza, but what makes it especially tricky is the proximity of the walls. Being a street circuit, there's no margin for error: any slightest carelessness can cost valuable tenths of a second... or end in tragedy.

The pace was very even between the leading teams, although McLaren once again looked particularly strong, as it has since the first race of the season. Mercedes and Ferrari were also very close in terms of times, consolidating a tight battle at the top. Red Bull, on the other hand, once again proved to be more difficult: Max Verstappen had several issues with the car and seemed uncomfortable throughout the session, while his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, seemed much more comfortable in his car, finishing very close to the four-time world champion.

Once again, Williams looked very strong heading into the weekend. Despite Alex Albon experiencing some issues, the team managed to excel in terms of pace. Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, continues to benefit from the improvements Williams introduced since last weekend and seemed much more comfortable with the car's performance. Both he and his teammate managed to finish the session inside the top 10.

In contrast, Aston Martin, Haas, and Sauber remain behind both in the standings and in on-track performance. Still, Sauber driver Nico Hülkenberg managed to finish very close to the top 10, showing a small glimmer of competitiveness amid the team's struggles.

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, this circuit is one of the most demanding on the calendar, and this was evident when no rookie managed to finish in the top 10. This demonstrates that Jeddah is a track that requires experience and precision, where younger drivers are still searching for that exact spot to avoid mistakes.

Furthermore, throughout the session, widespread issues with tire degradation and grip were observed. This is due to the circuit's characteristics: many corners, high temperatures, and a demanding combination of fast corners with slower sections. In this context, having good car balance is key, something that not all teams achieved, as several drivers complained about the behavior of their cars.

It's important to note that this first practice session doesn't have a major impact on the weekend's progress, as the track conditions during the session were very different from those experienced in qualifying and the race. Temperature, asphalt evolution, and lighting play a key role in Jeddah.