Max opens race weekend in Jeddah in second place

Published on 25 March 2022 by Niels Hendrix

Max Verstappen completed the first free practice session ahead of the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix in second place. On the 6,175-metre Jeddah Corniche Circuit, which has undergone minor modifications since last year's race, Charles Leclerc drove the fastest time in his Ferrari. Valtteri Bottas drove to P3 in his Alfa Romeo. The Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly completed the top five. Max's team-mate at Oracle Red Bull Racing, Sergio Perez, set the seventh fastest time.

At the start of the first free practice session on the street circuit, it is sunny and a nice warm 22 degrees Celsius. It is still light in Jeddah, which does not make the conditions very representative compared to the ones predicted for qualifying and the race, both of which will be held under artificial light and later in the day.

Nico Hülkenberg is one of the drivers who take to the track early on. The German is again replacing his fellow countryman Sebastian Vettel in the Aston Martin team. Like Hulkenberg, Max is straight out of the box. It does not take long for the reigning world champion to top the timing sheet. He is on a set of hard tyres. Meanwhile, Kevin Magnussen runs into problems early in the session. The Dane is called back to the pits with gearbox problems.

After seventeen minutes a red flag is waved. The sign indicating 50 metres to turn one has been driven into pieces by Lando Norris. Marshalls clear away Styrofoam debris and, with 34 minutes left on the clock, the session resumes.

At the halfway mark, Max steers his RB18 out of the pits. This time he is on a new set of soft tyres. After a purple first sector, his first attempt to improve his time is aborted due to heavy traffic. During another attempt, the Dutchman has a moment of oversteer in turn nine and must go back onto the track via the run-off lane. "Has the wind picked up? It's very tricky", Max asks over the on-board radio.

With fifteen minutes to go, a glance at the standings shows that all but two of the top-ten have set their fastest times on soft tyres. The two who drove their best efforts time on the hard tyres are Max and Leclerc in P1 and P2.

Red Bull shifts attention to race preparations, with the reigning champion embarking on a long run, instead of chasing lap times. In the final minutes Leclerc jumps ahead of the Dutchman and puts his Ferrari on P1.

Contest GP Saudi Arabia: win a by Max signed World Champion #1 cap!

Results first free practice Saudi Arabia: