Pierre Gasly surprised and guided the TL in Bahrain, with Norris in 2nd and Leclerc at the 3rd. Hot session and full of surprises.
The pilots arrived at the Jeddah circuit in Saudi Arabia, ready to face the last week at triple race before a week. The urban layout, which debuted in Formula 1 in 2021 in the midst of a ferocious championship, offered again technical challenges and impressive speeds.
In the first free tests session, Pierre Gasly surprised and ended at the top of the table, with a time of 1m29s239, only 0.007 in front of Lando Norris, who obtained the second half. Oscar Pasters closed the top 3 after a demanding session.
At the beginning, practically all the pilots went to the track, many opting for the medium and hard compounds. Haas put his two cars with hard tires C3, while Williams did the same with Carlos Sainz.
Although it is not yet completely comfortable with the McLaren of 2025, as he himself admitted, Norris started the session well, scoring 1m30s454. His partner Pasters also improved, but it was a tenth behind.
🎙️ Oscar Pisters, on the radio:
“The drink loses … it’s better than last week, but it is still forgiveness in my helmet.”
Gradually, the track temperature was decreasing – from 50 ° C to 46 ° C – which increased the grip. The evolution of the track was visible and the Times crashed during the session.
Russell briefly assumed the leadership with 1m30s425, but was then exceeded by Norris, who increased 1m29s246 using soft tires. Even with the good moment, the difference of more than four tenths for Postri has attracted attention, which raised the possibility of an error in the return of the Australian.
Carlos Sainz also shone with soft tires, temporarily climbing in second place, two tenths of Russell, with sparks that leave under the car as he flew through the curves.
Those who attracted attention was negatively Haas, who still dealt with structural problems. The Head team, Ayao Komatsu, recognized that the car continues to bounce on high curves and quick steering changes, even with the new floor.
During the session, some touches of light on the walls left the engineers alert. Pisters reported a subtle contact and went to the pits to check the car without apparent damage. Bearman, while closing the tires, touched the wall slightly, but also the car did not seem to have great damage.
In the meantime, Kimi Antonelli, still looking for trust, appeared in seventh place, about a second behind his partner. Another who hit was Tsunoda, who after scoring Red Bull in Bahrein, concluded the session only two tenths behind Verstappen, both with medium tires.
At the end of the session, with the track in better conditions, Pierre Gasly flew with soft tires and marked the best time, surprising even the most optimistic – and showing that after scoring points in Bahrein, its phase seems to really turn.
Jack Doohan, on the other hand, dug the eleventh half in front of Lewis Hamilton, while Lawson and Hadjar had not yet done their rapid curves with soft compounds.
In the last minutes of the session, Lawson managed to climb the eleventh position, while Hadja ended up interrupting his attempt.
Both had come out with soft tires slightly out of synchronization compared to others, which was not the ideal scenario. The track had already cooled at 44 ° C, favoring the rapid curves, but the two found traffic and were not yet exploring the boundaries of the track completely.
With this, it was difficult to carefully evaluate the actual potential of the racing car car in these conditions.
Shortly thereafter, Lando Norris ended up straight after bringing traffic. The dirty turbulent air seems to have influenced the behavior of the car, which has escaped the ideal line.
The British was in a longer period simulation with medium tires, already for a total of 14 laps with compound C4 and 21 in total until then.
Gasly dug her return later of rivals, but the weather was strong: 1m29s239 – less than 2 seconds in the 2024 pole, also in the sun.
Take a look at the time of the first training session:
The pilots return to the catwalk in Saudi Arabia at 14h (Brasilia Time) for another training session.
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
