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Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
F1 Saudi Arabian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Thursday's action from the second round of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Max Verstappen dominated the F1 season opener in Bahrain last week in a Red Bull 1-2, but can the world champions follow it up at a very different track in Saudi Arabia?
Focus remains on Red Bull for off-track ongoings too, following Jos Verstappen’s calls for team principal Christian Horner to step down.
First practice begins at 1:30pm GMT (4:30pm local time) followed by second practice at 5pm GMT (8pm local time).
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Norris has also bolted on a set of softs, so Russell's time may soon come under threat.
As Ricciardo goes seventh, we get our first glimpse at the soft tyre as Bottas emerges on the C2s.
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The RB pair are the only cars on track now, and Tsunoda makes use of the free space to charge into tenth.
With Russell and Verstappen in the pits, Perez has a fairly free track to vault into second on a 1m30.804s. Verstappen backed out of his last lap after a lairy oversteer moment that needed his considerable car control to rescue.
With 20 minutes of a breathless session so far complete, Russell is three tenths quicker than Verstappen and Leclerc. But of course, it's very early to be making conclusions just yet.
Russell goes quicker again with a 1m30.554s. He seems to be in the sweetspot with the Mercedes, but team-mate Hamilton isn't quite so happy. He tells engineer Pete Bonnington that the team needs to fix some bouncing he's experiencing on the rear.
Back on the track, it's telling of how close the field is that three different drivers are fastest in the respective sectors. Piastri, Alonso and Perez are the quickest men through sectors one, two and three.
Breaking news
In a breaking development, Red Bull has suspended the female employee at the centre of allegations made against Christian Horner, as a result of the findings of its recent investigation. You can read about that here.
Stopwatch
A flurry of improvements means we have a new top three. Russell goes top on a 1m30.806s, just a tenth ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc. All three set their times on hards. Gasly though has popped up into fifth on mediums, just behind Alonso.
Replays show that Stroll has snagged the wall with his left-rear tyre. He's currently in the pits while repairs are carried out.
Another notable flow-vis user early on is Ricciardo, whose RB has a healthy dose splashed over the left-hand side of his rear wing. The Aussie is 14th in the times currently on his first time driving at Jeddah since 2022, having missed last year's event.
Verstappen now pops up into second, also on hards, ahead of Leclerc. Hamilton is shuffled back to fourth, while Perez improves but ends up only fifth.
"I've got bouncing in the first sector, it's not the best," reports Ocon. Not a happy camp at Alpine this week, with Bob Bell the latest notable departure - an Enstone veteran, he's landed at Aston Martin.
Alonso isn't hanging around though, and he brings it down further to a 1m30.961s, putting his hard-shod Aston four tenths clear of Hamilton - his Mercedes also on hard tyres.
Improvements everywhere you look on that last lap, and Norris (medium) now goes top having lowered the benchmark to a 1m31.804s. Piastri tucks into second, running hards.
We've already mentioned Ferrari's skinny rear wing, and it's more notable in these early phases of the session with flow-vis daubed all over it. We get a nice close up as Sainz has a big wobble under braking.
Stopwatch
Leclerc's tenure at the top of the times doesn't last long. Perez, something of a circuit specialist, moves ahead on a 1m32.072s.
Stopwatch
Norris (medium) elbows his way into second ahead of Sainz (hard), demoting Gasly to fourth. But the times are tumbling all the time, with Alonso popping up into second ahead of Piastri, then Leclerc going top of the pile on a 1m32.253s - also on hards.
After the Alpine team's nightmare showing in Bahrain, Gasly has popped up into second on the medium, ahead of Piastri and Leclerc on the hard.
Stopwatch
Hamilton sets the early benchmark with a 1m32.590s on the hard.
Hard compound tyres are the choice of the majority, but there are a few that have opted for the medium. The C2 is the hard here, with C3 the medium and C4 the soft.
F1 isn't the first championship to hit the track this weekend of course. We've already had opening practice for the Carrera Cup Middle East, F1 Academy and F2, which meant we had our first glimpse at a modern Red Bull-liveried single-seaters with prominent Ford logos on F1 Academy racer Emely de Heus's machine.
Green flag
We're green for FP1, with the Saubers and Hamilton heading out first.
Sun
This being a coastal venue, there's a fair bit of wind blowing through the palms. Air temperature is 26.9 °C as we prepare to begin the session, while track temperature is some way north of that at 41.5 °C.
So no shortage of off-track talking points to discuss then. But we must turn attentions to what we're really here for, as drivers are getting ready to go out on track for FP1.
Breaking news
One of the dramas to which Hamilton was referring was the allegation from a whistleblower, who informed the BBC that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is under investigation by the ruling body for allegedly attempting to interfere with the result of last year's Saudi GP. It was then alleged that he pushed for officials not to certify the Las Vegas Formula 1 circuit. This prompted Mercedes driver George Russell to call for "total transparency" into the ongoing situation.
Breaking news
There were plenty of fascinating insights to emerge from Thursday's media sessions, not least from Verstappen and Hamilton. The former flatly downplayed the idea that he may leave Red Bull over that team's ongoing saga, and defended his father after Jos Verstappen weighed in to call for team boss Christian Horner to step down. Hamilton meanwhile offered his views on the current off-track dramas that are overshadowing the on-track product, calling it a "pivotal moment" for F1, and shared his opinion that the close involvement of a parent in the management of an F1 driver’s career is a “thin line to walk”.
The properties of this track with its relatively smooth surface being so different from Bahrain has led many to express hope that the field will be a bit closer here. Among those on Thursday to voice that opinion was McLaren sophomore Oscar Piastri, who is hopeful Formula 1's "chasing pack is not too far behind" the dominant Red Bulls.
That's because the profile of this track is about as far away from Monaco or Singapore as you can get, with there being so many long straights where aerodynamic efficiency and top speed are king. Those factors explain why Ferrari has brought back a 2023-spec rear wing this weekend. You can read more on that here.
Of course, FP1 conditions are the least representative of the whole weekend as the track rubbers in, not least due to the different conditions teams will face in qualifying and the race which are held over three hours later in the day. But there will still be plenty that the teams can learn.
We're a little over 15 minutes away from the start of opening practice for the second stop on Formula 1's world tour. This will be the fourth grand prix held in Saudi Arabia on the twisty street track, which first welcomed F1 in 2021 when Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen's ill-tempered duel was simply breathtaking. Will we get more of the same this time around?
Good afternoon everybody and welcome to Autosport's live text coverage of Thursday's practice sessions from Jeddah. Well done me for not starting off on the wrong foot and saying Friday out of habit.
By: Autosport Staff
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