Saudi Arabia GP: Charles Leclerc goes fastest overall, Max Verstappen second, and Lewis Hamilton ninth: The Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc picked up from where he left in Bahrain GP by going fastest in the First Free Practice session at the Saudi Arabia GP. Leclerc set the fastest lap time with 1m30.772s on soft tyres. Max Verstappen was second overall followed by Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas. But, Lewis Hamilton once again struggled as he was ninth overall. Follow Formula 1 and Saudi Arabia GP Live Updates on InsideSport.IN
Charles Leclerc was not even on the track till the first half of the FP1 session. But, when he came out he came out with all guns blazing. He set the track on fire by setting a lap time of 1m30.772s.
Saudi Arabia GP: Charles Leclerc picks it from where he left in the Bahrain GP, Max Verstappen is second and Lewis Hamilton overall ninth
Max Verstappen, who was leading the FP1 session finished second after setting a lap time of 1m30.888s. He had a disappointing outing in the Bahrain Grand Prix as he had to retire following a fuel system vacuum pressure.
🏁 FP1 CLASSIFICATION 🏁
🔝 Leclerc followed by Verstappen… again 😅
🙌 Bottas and Alfa Romeo in P3
🤕 K-Mag w/ mechanical issue#SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/pn9gchD7q0— Formula 1 (@F1) March 25, 2022
Valtteri Bottas was the surprise package as he finished third after setting a lap time of 1m31.084s. He was then followed by Carlos Sainz who was fourth after setting a lap time of 1m31.139s.
The AlphaTauri duo finished fifth and sixth overall. Pierre Gasly was P5 after setting a lap time of 1m31.317s. Yuki Tsunoda finished sixth after setting a lap time of 1m31.505s.
Sergio Perez, the Red Bull driver finished seventh after setting a lap time of 1m31.563s. The Alpine driver, Esteban Ocon was eighth overall as he set a lap time of 1m32.026s.
The podium finisher at the Bahrain GP, Lewis Hamilton was once again struggling. He managed a P9 finish after setting a lap time of 1m32.364s. Fernando Alonso took the P10 position after setting a lap time of 1m32.381s. The Alpine team changed his internal combustion engine as a precaution after finding a suspected sealing issue.
Saudi Arabia GP: Charles Leclerc picks it from where he left in the Bahrain GP, Max Verstappen is second and Lewis Hamilton overall ninth
It was Daniel Ricciardo who finished eleventh after setting a lap time of 1m32.506s followed by Lance Stroll in P12. Lance set a lap time of 1m32.582s. Lando Norris who was running a visor cam this weekend finished P13 after setting a lap time of 1m32.594s.
The rookie driver this year, Guanyu Zhou finished P14 after setting a lap time of 1m32.608s. The other Mercedes driver, George Russell only managed to finish P15 having set a lap time of 1m32.839s.
Nico Hulkenberg, who is driving in place of Sebastian Vettel managed to finish P16. He set a lap time of 1m33.034s. Alex Albon, the Williams driver only managed to finish at the seventeenth position after setting a lap time of 1m33.087s.
Nicholas Latifi, the other Williams driver managed the P18 finish after having set a lap time of 1m33.529s. Mick Schumacher was P19 as he set a lap time of 1m34.429s. Kevin Magnussen missed the session after having a problem with his hydraulics. He has lost time and Haas needs to get him out on the track in the Free Practice Session 2.
Saudi Arabia GP: Charles Leclerc picks it from where he left in the Bahrain GP, Max Verstappen is second and Lewis Hamilton overall ninth
Editors pick
