(Motorsport-Total.com) – Charles Leclerc set the best time of 1:30.772 minutes in the first free practice session for the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Towards the end of the session, the Ferrari driver took the lead ahead of Max Verstappen (Red Bull), who had been in the lead up to that point. In the end, the time difference between the two was 0.116 seconds.
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Charles Leclerc secured the best time in the first free practice session in Jeddah
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Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) was third, 0.312 seconds behind, followed by Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and the two AlphaTauris. Until just before the end, four Red Bull cars were still in the top five positions.
“I think if Red Bull has everything under control and has no technical problems, they can win the race here. I think they would have made it in Bahrain too,” analyzes ‘Sky’ expert Ralf Schumacher. (Get Sky now and experience all races live and without commercial breaks!)
Towards the end of the session, Sainz complained on the pit radio about “strong ‘bouncing'”, just like Lewis Hamilton before him. The Mercedes driver was ninth. He was 1.592 seconds short of the top.
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In the paddock, however, sporting events took a back seat as rumors spread that there had been a bomb attack on a nearby Aramco facility in Jeddah. Images of a worryingly large fire are circulating on Twitter. However, there is no official statement on this yet.
During the session, Verstappen reported on the pit radio that he had a burnt smell in his nose and asked if it was his car, which Red Bull denied. There was speculation on ‘Sky’ that he might have smelled the fire by then. This is also not confirmed as of now.
Just 17 minutes had elapsed when the weekend had to be interrupted for the first time. In turn 1, Lando Norris (13th) rammed the previously loosened 50-meter board and splintered it into dozens of pieces. His McLaren was not damaged. After nine minutes the track was clean and the session could be released again.
“It was a good session without any real problems,” says McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl. “The drivers were happy with the balance. But I can’t say how competitive we are. I don’t think we have a fundamental problem. We simply lack grip.”
For the surprise man from Bahrain, Kevin Magnussen (20th), the training started with a small setback. After its first two rounds of installation, the Haas was found to have a hydraulic leak, necessitating a radiator replacement. Mick Schumacher in the second Haas was penultimate.
From Ralf Schumacher’s point of view, it is “a disadvantage” that Magnussen was only able to do two laps at the start. The dangerous thing about it is: “If it happens to him, it can happen to both of them. It’s twice as bad for Kevin because he’s never been here before. That’s missing data.”
Fernando Alonso (10th/Alpine) used a new engine in the first practice session. After Bahrain, its engineers had identified a possible problem with a gasket and so sent the combustion engine back to France, where it will be thoroughly examined. After that, the motor is supposed to go into the pool for the rest of the season. There’s no punishment for that.