Leclerc Tops Time Sheets, Max second in Saudi Arabia Practice

The first day of practice at the Jeddah was a surprisingly busy affair. The Ferrari and Redbull cars once again showed the rest of the grid that they were one step ahead of the rest. Mercedes Drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell sat at P5 & P6 respectively.
Here’s how the timesheet looked at the end of Day 1.

2022 FIA Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1. Charles Leclerc Ferrari F1-75 Ferrari 1:30.074
2. Max Verstappen Red Bull RB18 Red Bull  1:30.214
3. Carlos Sainz Ferrari F1-75 Ferrari 1:30.320
4. Sergio Perez Red Bull RB18 Red Bull 1:30.360
5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes W13 Mercedes 1:30.513
6. George Russell Mercedes W13 Mercedes 1:30.664
7. Lando Norris McLaren MCL36 McLaren  1:30.735
8. Esteban Ocon Alpine A522 Alpine  1:30.760
9. Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo C42 Alfa Romeo  1:30.832
10. Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri AT03 AlphaTauri  1:30.886
11. Fernando Alonso Alpine A522 Alpine  1:30.944
12. Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri AT03 AlphaTauri 29 1:30.963
13. Mick Schumacher Haas VF-22 Haas  1:31.169
14. Lance Stroll Aston Martin AMR22 Aston Martin  1:31.372
15. Daniel Ricciardo McLaren MCL36 McLaren  1:31.527
16. Nico Hulkenberg Aston Martin AMR22 Aston Martin  1:31.615
17. Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo C42 Alfa Romeo  1:31.615
18. Nicholas Latifi Williams FW44 Williams  1:31.814
19. Alex Albon Williams FW44 Williams 1:31.866
20. Kevin Magnussen Haas VF-22 Haas  1:32.344

Leclerc Showed his pace in FP1 as well

2022 FIA Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1. Charles Leclerc Ferrari F1-75 Ferrari  1:30.772
2. Max Verstappen Red Bull RB18 Red Bull  1:30.888
3. Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo C42 Alfa Romeo  1:31.084
4. Carlos Sainz Ferrari F1-75 Ferrari  1:31.139
5. Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri AT03 AlphaTauri  1:31.317
6. Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri AT03 AlphaTauri  1:31.505
7. Sergio Perez Red Bull RB18 Red Bull  1:31.563
8. Esteban Ocon Alpine A522 Alpine  1:32.026
9. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes W13 Mercedes  1:32.364
10. Fernando Alonso Alpine A522 Alpine  1:32.381 1.609
11. Daniel Ricciardo McLaren MCL36 McLaren  1:32.506
12. Lance Stroll Aston Martin AMR22 Aston Martin  1:32.582
13. Lando Norris McLaren MCL36 McLaren 1:32.594
14. Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo C42 Alfa Romeo  1:32.608
15. George Russell Mercedes W13 Mercedes  1:32.839
16. Nico Hulkenberg Aston Martin AMR Aston Martin 23 1:33.034
17. Alex Albon Williams FW44 Williams  1:33.087
18. Nicholas Latifi Williams FW44 Williams  1:33.529
19. Mick Schumacher Haas VF-22 Haas  1:34.429
20. Kevin Magnussen Haas VF-22 Haas

The 2 Ferrari Cars showed their pace throughout the practice session even though they were the last to leave the garage in FP1, mind games perhaps?
However just as he seemed to be settling into a grove, Current World Championship leader, Charles Leclerc crashed into a wall at turn 4 and broke off his steering components in the red Ferrari.
His Teammate Carlos Sainz was struggling to keep up as the Spanish driver had a brush against the walls himself but managed to keep it together. He ended the day 0.246s behind his teammate who was flying away. Both the Ferrar and Mercedes cars visibly struggled with porpoising throughout the day with the cars bumping up and down at the end of the straights at over 300kmph!

The Redbulls put in a competitive performance however they could not catch up with Leclerc at the top. However, both drivers were on sets of medium tyres while Leclerc set his time on the soft tyre. So it will be interesting to see how the pace unfolds tomorrow.

Mclaren seemed to have sorted some of the issues that plagued the team in Bahrain. Lando Norris came in an impressive P6 and Australian teammate Daniel Riccardo in P15 as the former Redbull driver finally enjoyed some extended time in the brand new Mclaren.

Another driver who enjoyed extended time in a new car was Nico Hulkenburg. The German was filling out for the still unwell Sebastian Vettel as he failed to still produce a negative test. He finished the day in P16, 2 places below his teammate Lance Stroll in P14.

A driver who would’ve definitely wanted more time in the car was Kevin Magnussen. The HAAS driver was plagued by issues in both FP1 and FP2 as the team worked hard to get his car back on track.

The action carries on at the fastest street circuit, the Jeddah Street Circuit.

Practice 3, Date – 26th March
Timings – 7:30 to 8:30 PM IST
Qualifying, Date – 26th March
Timings – 10:30 to 11:30 PM IST
Race, Date – 27th March
Timings – 10:30 PM to 12:30 AM IST