Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: What you need to know about qualifying, ahead of Sunday's race

Europe 1 with AFP 11:06 am, March 18, 2023

Max Verstappen (Red Bull) already in front! The two-time reigning world champion set the fastest time on the first day of free practice at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the second round of the Formula 1 World Championship, while Ferrari struggled. The 25-year-old Dutchman, who won the season's first Grand Prix in Bahrain two weeks ago, still looks ahead of the competition as he dominated both free practice sessions on Friday at the Jeddah street circuit.

At the end of the afternoon, he set the fastest time by almost half a second over his pursuers, before repeating in the second session, contested at night and representative of the conditions in which qualifying will take place on Saturday and the race on Sunday.

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But in the evening, however, he saw his main competitors reduce the gap on the timesheet. The Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso (41 years old) achieved the second time with 208/1000th of delay and thus confirmed the excellent performances of his Aston Martin, with which he had climbed on the third step podium in Bahrain. Canadian teammate Lance Stroll was seventh. As for the Mexican Sergio Perez, author of the only pole position of his career here last year, he obtained the third time, 299/1000th of Verstappen, confirming the clear superiority of the Red Bull team at the beginning of the season.

Ferrari in the rough

Ferrari, on the other hand, had a very difficult day on Friday. Already under pressure after a poor performance in Bahrain, the Prancing Horse brand failed to straighten things out. Monegasque Charles Leclerc, who had to retire in Bahrain and will be penalized ten places on the starting grid after replacing an electronic component at the inaugural Grand Prix, achieved only the ninth time of this first day of testing, just ahead of his Spanish teammate Carlos Sainz.

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Relegated to 738 and 989/1000th respectively of Verstappen's Red Bull, the Italian team's cars will have to work Saturday to get closer to the best. "We still have to find performance but the car gives us a good impression," Sainz said. We will focus on improving the results in qualifying tomorrow (Saturday)."

Mercedes had a contrasting day: if George Russell clinched a good fifth place, Lewis Hamilton could not do better than 11th. "I was in trouble in both sessions, admitted the seven-time world champion (...) We will work to improve balance and make the car easier to drive. It will take time to sort things out, but everyone is working hard so you have to be patient and give everything on the track."

Alpine in verve

In addition, Hamilton will now have to do without his physiotherapist Angela Cullen, with whom he collaborated for seven years and who announced Friday on Instagram that she was leaving Mercedes. The Briton, who was very close to her, paid tribute to her on the same social network: "Thanks to her, I am a stronger athlete and a better person." The nice surprise of the day came from Alpine, who placed both of his cars in the Top 6. Esteban Ocon, vengeful after his retirement in Bahrain following several errors, set the fourth fastest time, while Pierre Gasly was also solid with the sixth time.

"The car looks good so far and I think we can get more out of it in qualifying," Ocon said. "The car offers a good feeling," said Gasly, who made a superb comeback in Bahrain by finishing ninth after starting last on the grid.

Germany's Nico Hulkenberg also fared well, picking up an unexpected eighth place in his Haas, while novices Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri), Logan Sargeant (Williams) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren) finished at the bottom of the timesheet, just ahead of Valterri Bottas (Alfa Romeo).