Gasly surprised in the first training session: Alpine in front of McLaren and Ferrari!

Gasly surprised in the first training session: Alpine in front of McLaren and Ferrari!

in the first free training for the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia, Pierre Gasly from Alpine surprised and achieved the best time. With a time of 1: 29.246 minutes, Gasly was faster than Lando Norris, the current world championship leader in the McLaren. Charles Leclerc in Ferrari followed only seven hundredths behind the alpine driver. Oscar Piatri in the second McLaren also performed strongly and took fourth place with a gap of about a tenth. Max Verstappen, the Dutch world champion in the Red Bull, disappointed his fans because he only reached ninth place. The two -hour training took place under dry conditions with temperatures around 31 degrees Celsius in the air and 36 degrees on the route.

This explained Pierre Gasly as a great motivation after he had previously only achieved seventh place in Bahrain, which Alpine's first points meant this season. George Russell from Mercedes also had a remarkable appearance in training, as he did the fastest lap at the same time with 1: 29,674 minutes. This achievement brought him to third place, while Carlos Sainz von Ferrari was able to personally outdo it with a late change to soft tires and Norris in the meantime urged his leadership position.

performance of the pilots

The results of the first free training show the current ranking and the challenges that are imminent for drivers. Here is an overview of the best times:

outlook on the race weekend

The second free training for the pilots is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CEST, followed by qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday, both of which will also take place at 7:00 p.m. CEST. While the McLaren team already set some highlights in the current season, it should be noted that both Mercedes and Ferrari are behind expectations. Max Verstappen noted that the deficit to the leaders was significant and expressed the fear that Red Bull might be more careful with the tires to avoid overheating.

With an exciting race weekend in front of the door, the team strategies and the course of the next training sessions are crucial for the starting point of the upcoming qualifying round. It is of great importance for the teams to optimally prepare the collected data from the first and upcoming training.

For more information and results, please visit OE24 href = "https://www.formula1.com/en/Article/fp1-gasly-sets-pace-pace-pace-norris-and-leclert-first-practce-in.4zrpq3oerw89achyopypqx" and Motorsport magazine