The on track action was back Thursday afternoon in Saudi Arabia as Max Verstappen picked up where he left off last week, topping the first Free Practice session ahead of Fernando Alonso and Red Bull Teammate Sergio Perez. The ultrafast Jeddah Circuit, a quick favorite amongst fans and drivers, saw the entire field within 1.982 seconds of one another as the top 5 were separated by no more than 0.371 seconds.
HIGHLIGHTS: Catch the action from FP1 in Saudi Arabia as Verstappen sets the pace
George Russell led the Mercedes duo with his soft tire run that held the top spot until Verstappen’s run, finishing 4th while teammate Lewis Hamilton ended the session 8th fastest. Ferrari’s pairing ended 5th and 6th on the sheets, with Charles LeClerc ahead of Carlos Sainz by 0.134 seconds. Lando Norris ended his day in 7th, well ahead of McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri (15th), while Lance Stroll and Alexander Albon rounded out the top 10.
Further down the time sheets, Haas ended their session in 19th and 20th – echoing the start of the year in Bahrain – and Alpine, fresh off the loss of several key leadership officials, ended in 13th and 17th positions.
Prepare for more on track action this evening as teams take to the track under the lights for FP2 at 20:00 local time. Full weekend schedule and FP1 results are below.
FORMULA 1 STC SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX 2024 Schedule
| Date | Session | Time (Local Circuit) |
| Mar. 7th | Practice 1 | 16:30 – 17:30 |
| Practice 2 | 20:00 – 21:00 | |
| Mar. 8th | Practice 3 | 16:30 – 17:30 |
| Qualifying | 20:00 – 21:00 | |
| Mar. 9th | Race | 20:00 |
Free Practice 1 Results:
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | TIME | GAP | LAPS |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:29.659 | 24 | |
| 2 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:29.845 | 0.186s | 24 |
| 3 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:29.868 | 0.209s | 23 |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 1:29.939 | 0.280s | 23 |
| 5 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 1:30.030 | 0.371s | 24 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 1:30.164 | 0.505s | 24 |
| 7 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:30.231 | 0.572s | 26 |
| 8 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 1:30.236 | 0.577s | 21 |
| 9 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:30.580 | 0.921s | 18 |
| 10 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:30.747 | 1.088s | 26 |
| 11 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 1:30.783 | 1.124s | 26 |
| 12 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB HONDA RBPT | 1:30.917 | 1.258s | 25 |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:30.945 | 1.286s | 27 |
| 14 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:30.966 | 1.307s | 27 |
| 15 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:30.977 | 1.318s | 22 |
| 16 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB HONDA RBPT | 1:31.036 | 1.377s | 25 |
| 17 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:31.046 | 1.387s | 25 |
| 18 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 1:31.131 | 1.472s | 24 |
| 19 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 1:31.411 | 1.752s | 19 |
| 20 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 1:31.577 | 1.918s | 18 |
