Saudi Arabian GP: Hamilton tops FP1 from Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton edged out title rival Max Verstappen to lead opening practice in Saudi Arabia as the Formula 1 drivers got their first taste of the new Jeddah track.
Following Porsche Supercup and Formula 2 practice sessions earlier in the day, F1 became the third series to sample the high-speed Jeddah Corniche Circuit, which many had compared to the Baku and Valencia tracks.
Championship leader Verstappen managed set the early pace in the session for Red Bull, completing his initial runs on the hard compound tyre.
The Dutchman sat almost two seconds clear of the field at points as he quickly found his feet around the track, eventually whittling his best lap on hards down to a 1m30.014s.
Title rival Hamilton was not as swift to get up to speed despite running on softs, finishing six tenths of a second off Verstappen's best lap during the opening runs with teammate Valtteri Bottas sitting third on softs.
As the track continued to evolve and the entire field switched to softs for the second half of the session, laptimes continued to get quicker, with Hamilton and Bottas leapfrogging Verstappen on the timesheets.
Bottas moved five thousandths of a second clear of Verstappen with his second run on soft tyres, only for Hamilton to then find another two tenths of a second, setting a best laptime of 1m29.786s with 15 minutes remaining.
It would be enough to give Hamilton P1 at the end of the session, narrowly keeping the Mercedes driver ahead of Verstappen, who improved in the dying moments of the session to finish second.
Verstappen wound up a quick lap on softs to cross the line in the final minute of running, but fell 0.056 seconds shy of Hamilton at the top.
Verstappen had a late mix-up with Esteban Ocon as the Alpine driver tried to allow him through into Turn 1, only for both cars to run wide and narrowly avoid contract. It was the only near-miss of the session, though, which went by without any major interruption and only a couple of yellow flags.
Bottas ended the session third for Mercedes, and enjoyed his first running at the Jeddah circuit, telling his engineer midway through the session: "F**k this track is cool."
Pierre Gasly ended the session fourth fastest for AlphaTauri, finishing within half a second of Hamilton at the front, while Antonio Giovinazzi was a surprise fifth for Alfa Romeo after a late improvement on soft tyres.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished sixth and seventh respectively for Ferrari, with Sainz finding a decent amount of time after making the switch to softs, while Daniel Ricciardo took eighth thanks to a couple of improvements through his second run on softs.
Fernando Alonso took ninth for Alpine after improving on hards during the second half of the session, while Sebastian Vettel closed out practice in 10th place for Aston Martin.
Sergio Perez struggled to match Verstappen's pace in the sister Red Bull RB16B, ending FP1 in 11th place, over a second behind his teammate.
Ocon improved after the mix-up with Verstappen to finish 12th ahead of Lando Norris and Lance Stroll, while Yuki Tsunoda took 15th as none of the quartet matched their respective teammates for pace.
Kimi Raikkonen finished 16th for Alfa Romeo, almost one second down on Giovinazzi in fifth. George Russell led Williams' efforts in 17th ahead of Haas's Mick Schumacher, while their respective teammates, Nicholas Latifi and Nikita Mazepin, propped up the timesheets in 19th and 20th place.
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Lewis Hamilton |
 |
Mercedes | 21 | 1'29.786 | |
| 2 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
Red Bull | 23 | 1'29.842 | 0.056 |
| 3 |  Valtteri Bottas |
 |
Mercedes | 24 | 1'30.009 | 0.223 |
| 4 |  Pierre Gasly |
 |
AlphaTauri | 28 | 1'30.263 | 0.477 |
| 5 |  Antonio Giovinazzi |
 |
Alfa Romeo | 27 | 1'30.318 | 0.532 |
| 6 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |
 |
Ferrari | 26 | 1'30.564 | 0.778 |
| 7 |  Charles Leclerc |
 |
Ferrari | 26 | 1'30.600 | 0.814 |
| 8 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
 |
McLaren | 25 | 1'30.608 | 0.822 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso |
 |
Alpine | 27 | 1'30.842 | 1.056 |
| 10 |  Sebastian Vettel |
 |
Aston Martin | 25 | 1'30.886 | 1.100 |
| 11 |  Sergio Perez |
 |
Red Bull | 27 | 1'30.960 | 1.174 |
| 12 | Esteban Ocon |
 |
Alpine | 29 | 1'31.023 | 1.237 |
| 13 | Lando Norris |
 |
McLaren | 23 | 1'31.029 | 1.243 |
| 14 |  Lance Stroll |
 |
Aston Martin | 25 | 1'31.044 | 1.258 |
| 15 |  Yuki Tsunoda |
 |
AlphaTauri | 26 | 1'31.099 | 1.313 |
| 16 | Kimi Raikkonen |
 |
Alfa Romeo | 26 | 1'31.296 | 1.510 |
| 17 | George Russell |
 |
Williams | 28 | 1'31.343 | 1.557 |
| 18 | Mick Schumacher |
 |
Haas | 24 | 1'31.525 | 1.739 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi |
 |
Williams | 27 | 1'31.821 | 2.035 |
| 20 |  Nikita Mazepin |
 |
Haas | 23 | 1'33.464 | 3.678 |
| View full results | ||||||
Haas bonus scheme idea prompted by real concern, says Mazepin
Saudi Arabian GP practice as it happened
Rolex 24, Hour 1: MSR Acura leads, BMW in trouble early
Tom Blomqvist led the opening hour of the Rolex 24 at Daytona aboard the Meyer Shank Racing Acura, as BMW became the first of the GTP manufacturers to hit trouble.
Diriyah E-Prix: Wehrlein defeats Dennis to complete double win
Pascal Wehrlein completed a Diriyah E-Prix clean sweep, sharing a 1-2 with Jake Dennis once again to take the Formula E championship lead.
Johnson on Button running NASCAR Cup races: "I think I can talk him into it"
2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button will get his first taste of NASCAR with the Garage 56 entry at Le Mans, but it may not be his last.
Jenson Button joins NASCAR Garage 56 Le Mans 24 driver lineup
Jenson Button has been revealed as part of the driver lineup for the Garage 56 entry that brings NASCAR back to the Le Mans 24 Hours for its centenary race in June.
Why Vasseur relishes 'feeling the pressure' as Ferrari's F1 boss
OPINION: Fred Vasseur has spent only a few weeks as team principal for the Ferrari Formula 1 team, but is already intent on taking the Scuderia back to the very top. And despite it being arguably the most demanding job in motorsport, the Frenchman is relishing the challenge
The crucial tech changes F1 teams must adapt to in 2023
Changes to the regulations for season two of Formula 1's ground-effects era aim to smooth out last year’s troubles and shut down loopholes. But what areas have been targeted, and what impact will this have?
Are these the 50 quickest drivers in F1 history?
Who are the quickest drivers in Formula 1 history? Luke Smith asked a jury of experienced and international panel of experts and F1 insiders. Some of them have worked closely with F1’s fastest-ever drivers – so who better to vote on our all-time top 50? We’re talking all-out speed here rather than size of trophy cabinet, so the results may surprise you…
One easy way the FIA could instantly improve F1
OPINION: During what is traditionally a very quiet time of year in the Formula 1 news cycle, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been generating headlines. He’s been commenting on massive topics in a championship that loves them, but also addressing necessary smaller changes too. Here we suggest a further refinement that would be a big boon to fans
How can McLaren keep hold of Norris?
Lando Norris is no longer the young cheeky-chappy at McLaren; he’s now the established ace. And F1's big guns will come calling if the team can’t give him a competitive car. Here's what the team needs to do to retain its prize asset
What difference did F1's fastest pitstops of 2022 make?
While a quick pitstop can make all the difference to the outcome of a Formula 1 race, most team managers say consistency is more important than pure speed. MATT KEW analyses the fastest pitstops from last season to see which ones – if any – made a genuine impact
When F1 'holiday' races kept drivers busy through the winter
Modern Formula 1 fans have grown accustomed to a lull in racing during winter in the northern hemisphere. But, as MAURICE HAMILTON explains, there was a time when teams headed south of the equator rather than bunkering down in the factory. And why not? There was fun to be had, money to be made and reputations to forge…
What Porsche social media frenzy says about F1’s manufacturer allure
Porsche whipped up a frenzy thanks to a cryptic social media post last week, and though it turned out to be a false alarm, it also highlighted more just why manufacturers remain such an important element in terms of the attraction that they bring to F1. It is little wonder that several other manufacturers are bidding for a slice of the action.
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.