What the teams said – Friday in Saudi Arabia

McLaren

Both drivers started well in Jeddah, although Piastri did slightly brush the barriers – causing no damage to his car. Norris was the quicker of the two, the Australian making a mistake on his flying run on the softs. The second session saw much the same outcome, Norris the faster of the duo as Piastri again clipped the looming walls. If the Aussie can nail his lap, there will be nothing in it between the two team mates tomorrow.

READ MORE: Norris and McLaren 'not as comfortable as what we would like' despite topping practice in Saudi Arabia

Lando Norris - FP1: 1:29.246, P2; FP2: 1:28.267, P1

“A good start to the weekend and a productive first day on track, getting comfy in the car and building confidence. We’ve got good data available with plenty of laps recorded, so I'll keep working hard overnight with the team, focusing on the different areas we’ve identified in preparation for tomorrow’s Qualifying.”

Oscar Piastri - FP1: 1:29.341, P4; FP2: 1:28.430, P2

“A solid Friday. It was a little bit of a trickier day, but I think the pace in the car is good. The competition doesn’t seem far away, so we need to iron out a couple of things to put us in the best place for Qualifying. We’ll review it all tonight and set ourselves up well for tomorrow.”

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

“It’s been a positive first day here in Jeddah, where we were able to complete a number of important test items and establish a reasonable performance baseline. We completed a good number of laps, enabling the drivers to build confidence, which is particularly important at this high-speed, but technically challenging circuit. Having said this, the field seems very tightly packed, and we will need to extract the maximum potential from the car for Qualifying. We have plenty of data to analyse this evening and look forward to getting back on track tomorrow.”

Red Bull

Verstappen and Tsunoda were very evenly matched in FP1, just 0.003s between the duo. That is what Red Bull want to see – what they don’t want to see if their drivers fighting for the lower reaches of the top 10. And what they want to see even less is a car in the barriers, which is exactly what happened in FP2. Tsunoda just clipped the inside of the final corner, breaking his suspension and leaving him a passenger as his RB21 hit the outside wall. That pretty much ended a session where Red Bull had been much more on the pace of their rivals.

Max Verstappen - FP1: 1:29.818, P9; FP2: 1:28.547, P3

“Today we tried some different things with the car and worked to find a different direction. I think we learned a lot from the sessions today, but it is still not quite where we want the car to be. I think at the end of the day you just have to go from your own feeling and assess what you get from the car. Over one lap it’s a bit better but the long runs are still tough. Compared to Bahrain, the grip levels and set up of the car is completely different so it is very difficult to compare to last week, but it is still clear that we want to be faster. For tomorrow, it is difficult to say how competitive we will be; the McLarens look really competitive. There is still a bit of work to do and things to understand, so we will see.”

Yuki Tsunoda - FP1: 1:29.821, P10; FP2: 1:28.963, P6

“First, a big apology to my Team today about the accident, I just turned in too much and clipped the wall and inside wheel. I had damage after that and just had no control. It is frustrating because the pace was looking good, so it’s a shame but also a positive, as I was getting the car in a good window. We had limited time on the long run, caused by myself, so I can’t really complain. I didn’t want it to end up this way. My last soft run was also compromised with the warmup and everything, so we don’t have a great read for qualifying but so far, the weekend has felt pretty okay. Importantly, my confidence level is still pretty good here."

Ferrari

Leclerc looked quick from the off in Saudi Arabia, winding up in the top three in FP1. Hamilton was not quite as comfortable and needed several tries on the soft tyre to climb into the top 10. The seven-time world champion’s struggles continued under the lights as once again he didn’t trouble the top spots on the leaderboard. Leclerc did though, winding up fourth but leaving time out there after a mistake on his first flying run when the tyres were at their best.

Charles Leclerc - FP1: 1:29.309, P3; FP2: 1:28.749, P4

"We are missing a bit of pace compared to the cars in front of us, but if we put everything together tomorrow it should be a close Qualifying.

"We all seem to be quite close, with McLaren a step ahead, but we will focus on ourselves and see what we can extract tomorrow."

Lewis Hamilton - FP1: 1:29.815, P8; FP2: 1:29.371, P13

"It was a challenging day. We’re still chasing the right balance between the front and rear axles, and I’m struggling a bit with consistency across the lap at this stage. There’s work to do tonight, but the team’s fully focused and we’ll keep pushing to find the improvements we need."

Mercedes

Russell topped the timing sheets on the medium tyre, picking up where he left off last weekend as one for McLaren to watch . But on the softs, he couldn’t quite extract the same pace. As for Antonelli, he locked up and ran wide as he got used to driving an F1 car at this demanding circuit. The youngster did likewise at the start of FP2, as he seemed to lack grip out there. Russell also faded down the order, with Mercedes unable to turn their soft tyres on as quickly as the other top teams.

George Russell - FP1: 1:29.618, P6; FP2: 1:28.973, P7

"It was a slightly messy day from our side. We didn’t manage to get too many clean laps in, owing to both traffic and a few efforts where we didn’t quite the tyres in the right window. We tried some different things across both cars, which was definitely valuable learning for both Kimi and myself. I think we’ve found the direction we will move in now. We were probably stronger in FP1 than FP2 ultimately. We didn’t quite take the step forward with the car that we were hoping too, but I don’t think there’s anything that we can’t improve overnight to come back stronger for Qualifying tomorrow. It was a shame not to get the long run data in due to the red flag in FP2, but everyone else is in the same boat. It’s not controversial to say that McLaren looked like they were clear in front but I’m hopeful we can be in the fight for best of the rest once again as we head into the weekend."

Kimi Antonelli - FP1: 1:29.934, P13; FP2: 1:29.242, P11

"It was quite a tricky day out there today. It proved difficult to get too many clean laps in, but I’m pleased with what we were able to achieve. We worked on a lot of details, and I was able to build my confidence on the track. It is a circuit that demands a lot of confidence in the high-speed and you need to get the car close to the walls. Overall, it was positive even if I got slightly too close to the wall on the exit of the final corner on my last lap on the Soft tyre in FP2.

"I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend now. It looks pretty close with many of our competitors behind McLaren. We don’t know the relative fuel loads and Power Unit modes of others, so we just need to focus on ourselves. We will work hard analysing the data overnight and look to come back stronger tomorrow."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"We had a solid start to the weekend in FP1. The track was actually pretty clean from the start, although the higher track temperatures do cost a bit of grip. George was able to set some strong times in the early running and Kimi was a little back from there, but this is another track that he is learning in an F1 car and it was good to see him making progress with each lap. We were pretty happy with the single lap performance as the session came to a close, although we knew we had some work to do on the long run.

"We made a few changes into FP2, partly to account for the cooling track and also in an attempt to further refine the balance. In the later session, the car was a bit tricker for both drivers so we'll pick through those changes on the simulator overnight and decide what to keep and what to discard. We didn't get a read on the long run due to a combination of the red flag and a few delays in our own programme. However, McLaren still look quick and we'll be working on the assumption overnight that they are the ones to beat."

Alpine

Gasly surprised everyone by topping FP1, on merit too. He set his lap time slightly later than the other front runners when the track was in better shape – but not that much later. It was an impressive lap, but come FP2, he did fall back. The Frenchman was still in the top 10 though, and looks full of confidence. Doohan couldn’t match Gasly’s times, winding up down the order as he gets to grips with the demanding Jeddah circuit.

Pierre Gasly - FP1: 1:29.239, P1; FP2: 1:29.106, P8

“Overall I am pleased with our Friday Practice today. I had a great feeling in the car in Free Practice 1 and it is always nice to top a session even if it is only Practice. I felt like the car was good enough to push right away, which is a good sign on a high-speed circuit like this one. It was tricky at times and we struggled a little more in Free Practice 2 with general grip. We know this session is more representative to what we will experience for Qualifying tomorrow, so certainly that gives us some things to understand and get on top of ahead of tomorrow’s running. We’ll take it session by session; it is all very tight as usual with just a tenth or two splitting a number of cars. We are not too far away, though, there is room for improvement and we just need to nail it tomorrow.”

Jack Doohan - FP1: 1:30.183, P16; FP2: 1:29.912, P17

“It has not been the easiest of Fridays for us but there have still been plenty of learnings to take from the two sessions. It’s such a high-speed circuit and you need to build confidence to really be able to push the car. On my side, I felt quite comfortable on the Medium tyre. We have not yet clicked with the Soft compound so there are a few things there for us to understand. I am sure we will get on top of it ahead of Qualifying and hopefully maximise the potential of the package. Free Practice 3 will no doubt be hot again like Free Practice 1 earlier today. We will do our best to refine those details and be in a position to put ourselves up the order towards the top 10 and in the fight for Qualifying.”

Williams

Both Albon and Sainz looked quick from the off, with the Spaniard radioing to say he felt more comfortable in his car. That is exactly what Williams wanted to hear – less so a little spat with his Race Engineer about when to harvest energy. But that was soon forgotten when Sainz went well under the lights too, winding up an impressive fifth. Albon was not too far back, sparking hopes that Williams might just get both cars into Q3 tomorrow.

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Alex Albon - FP1: 1:29.606, P5; FP2: 1:29.220, P10

"It’s a lot of fun to drive around this track with so many high-speed sections. It’s going to be very close in Qualifying, so there’s some fine-tuning to be done ahead of the session. Tyres are always a talking point here, especially when the track cools off throughout the session. We’re usually good at getting the tyres in the right window, so let’s see how tomorrow’s session goes."

Carlos Sainz - FP1: 1:29.779, P7; FP2: 1:28.942, P5

"A positive first day for us here in Jeddah. We’ve made some good steps forward from FP1 to FP2, trying some different things with the set-up and my driving style to try to extract more from the car. The lap on the Soft tyre was proof of those steps and, although it’s only Friday, the feeling around this tricky track was positive overall. Let’s see if we can keep it up tomorrow!"

Racing Bulls

It looked like Racing Bulls either encountered an issue, or opted to change rear wings in FP1, with both drivers stuck in the garage for quite some time. They came out for their soft tyre runs very, very late and as such had to negotiate traffic – Lawson getting a lap in, while Hadjar had to abort. But under the lights, they opted to run on the softs much earlier. Hadjar made his lap count this time, finishing just ahead of his team mate.

Isack Hadjar - FP1: 1:30.011, P15; FP2: 1:29.306, P12

“It was hard to get the balance together today, I feel like there is still room for improvement, which is reassuring because I know it's not the best we can do. It’s the fastest street circuit that exists, so it requires a lot of focus, it's really tough but really enjoyable. I will definitely be better tomorrow after a night of sleep. These cars give you so much confidence, we will be fighting for Q3 tomorrow, but making it is a different story.”

Liam Lawson - FP1: 1:29.907, P11; FP2: 1:29.488, P14

"FP1 was busy, but it was nice to drive an F1 car here as it's the first time I've done that. The track lives up to the hype, it was very fast, very cool. We had a productive day and tried a lot of different things. Tyres wise, we'll try and learn what we can before tomorrow. It's hard to tell how we're doing pace wise as we still need to find some time relative to some of our competitors in the midfield. Alpine and Williams were strong today, so we need to make a step, but that's what we're working on hard now.”

Alan Permane, Racing Director

“Quite a tough day today where we started off on the back foot. We have a new rear wing for this event, and we saw a small issue with it after the first run of FP1. That caused us to revert to an earlier specification and we lost some running time doing this. At a track like this, mileage is important with the high speed and walls to think about, the drivers need time to be able to push to the limit. For FP2, things were much better and were in a much happier place. Neither driver is particularly satisfied with their car though, we’ve got a few balance issues to sort out in the first part of the lap; after we get around the first few corners, things start to calm down a little bit, so we’ll be working that overnight."

Kick Sauber

Hulkenberg was threatening the top 10 for much of FP1 after picking up a mighty tow on his hot lap – something that a few might have seen and be debating using tactically come Qualifying. He did manage to finish in the top 10 in FP2 for good measure, although it remains to be seen if Kick Sauber were running lower fuel than the rest. But Bortoleto had a difficult day – missing the entirety of the only representative session after the team found a fuel leak on his car.

Nico Hulkenberg - FP1: 1:29.916, P12; FP2: 1:29.193, P9

"Jeddah is a really impressive track to drive, with its high-speed sections, rapid changes of direction and overall dynamic layout. It's a demanding circuit. I am pleased we managed to get the car into a good window in FP1 and were able to complete our standard Friday programme in FP2. We gathered valuable information on the tyres and made some structural adjustments to the setup between the sessions. There is still work to do overnight to refine the details, but it’s encouraging to see that we are firmly in the mix.“

Gabriel Bortoleto - FP1: 1:31.038, P20; FP2: No time set, P20

“It definitely wasn’t the day I had hoped for here in Jeddah – it’s my first time driving this circuit in a Formula One car, so missing out on valuable track time was frustrating. Unfortunately, a fuel leak discovered after FP1 meant we couldn’t run in the second session. These things can happen, and the team did everything they could to fix the issue – I’m grateful for their effort – but it just wasn’t possible in the time available. I still managed to complete a few laps in FP1, which gave me an initial feel for the circuit. It’s encouraging to see Nico finishing the day in the top ten; that gives us a strong reference. Now it’s all about learning as much as I can from the data and from Nico to be fully prepared for tomorrow and to make the most of the final practice session ahead of qualifying.”

Aston Martin

Aston Martin were off the pace in Bahrain, and on first impressions, they haven’t found much extra performance to bring to Jeddah. Both drivers were down the order in both sessions, so there is work to do overnight. Stroll spun as well early on in FP2, with what looked like rear locking the cause – another thing for the team to look into overnight.

Fernando Alonso - FP1: 1:29.976, P14; FP2: 1:29.662, P15

"We managed to get some clean laps in today, but it looks like the pace is a little behind where we want it to be. There will be a lot of traffic management in Qualifying and you need to have some luck too. We will look at the data tonight and hopefully put together the best package for tomorrow and try our best to challenge for the top ten."

Lance Stroll - FP1: 1:30.583, P17; FP2: 1:30.007, P18

"Not the most competitive day for us, but let's see what we can learn from the data and come up with overnight to improve for tomorrow. Conditions here are tricky and it will be a tough mission to put it all together in Qualifying but we will work hard and put the work in."

Haas

Bearman was the first to encounter trouble in Jeddah, as he locked up and skewed into the wall. It was a heavy clip, but he was able to continue after a brief stint in the garage to check for any damage. Haas looked off the pace based on Friday’s running, but their race speed has been superior all year to their one-lap pace. They will still work hard overnight to tweak whatever they can, in a bid to grab some better grid slots in what is a very congested midfield.

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Esteban Ocon – FP1: 1:31.029, P19; FP2: 1:30.019, P19

“It was obviously a very busy one today and there are now quite a lot of things we need to look at. It hasn’t been the easiest day, but as usual on a Friday, we gather data, and we try and improve things – the important day is tomorrow when we qualify. We’ll do everything we can to put it together on Saturday and hopefully we’ll have a bit more pace. It’s always difficult to say where we’ll be. This is a tough track and you need as much confidence as you can from every corner – you need to feel at one with the car. That’s what we’ll be working on tonight.”

Oliver Bearman - FP1: 1:30.595, P18; FP2: 1:29.754, P16

“FP1 was difficult. I was struggling with similar issues to what I had in Bahrain practice sessions, just lacking confidence on the brakes and having a few lock-ups. We made a change for FP2, we put the brakes back from a race where they worked very well, and that was the case again, it was much better in the afternoon. On the other hand, we suffered a little bit on performance runs in FP2 missing a little bit, especially jumping onto the soft tyre, so we have a bit of work to do. It’s difficult to say where we are, it’s really tight, but I think if we put everything together we can be in the mix, we just have a few things to finetune.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“It was a pretty tricky Friday. We struggled in sector one – the high-speed section – the car isn’t consistent or predictable enough to give confidence to the driver. We tried some different set-up options in FP2, and learned something interesting, so we’re now focused on improving the car overnight. I think everyone is struggling with degradation on high-fuel so we also need to get on top of that. There’s lots to work on tonight to improve the car and then have our best go at it tomorrow.”

Pirelli

Mario Isola, Motorsport Director

“It was a fairly straightforward day, apart from the red flag at the end of FP2, which prevented all the drivers from extending their long runs, which are so important for the rest of the weekend. In fact, while we and the teams have gathered a good amount of data overall, it is possibly not enough to get a clear picture of tyre behaviour over long runs under the same conditions the drivers will face in the race. But, on this fast and demanding Jeddah street circuit, interruptions are to be expected.

“From what we have seen so far, bringing a step softer trio of compounds has not significantly altered the overall picture. From the few meaningful long runs in the second session, we saw not much graining and that only on some cars. Furthermore, it was clear today that this phenomenon remained largely the same from one session to the next, which means it could be a factor to consider when it comes to managing degradation during the race. In terms of lap times, the degradation level was essentially similar to last year’s, or perhaps just slightly higher. Therefore, it’s hard to see there being a major change in strategy, with the one-stop on paper the quickest route, while the two-stop is a bit more competitive than before but not sufficiently so to be a valid alternative.”