RACE DEBRIEF

    Max Verstappen picked up from where he left off in Bahrain to top the first practice session at this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, ahead of his Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.

    Verstappen left the pit lane late in the session, but on the soft tyre he set a time of 1m 29.617s to lead Perez, in second, by 0.483s, and Alonso by 0.698s, with the Spaniard’s team mate, Lance Stroll, rounding out the top four.

    FP1: Verstappen heads Perez as Red Bull lead the way in first practice at Jeddah

    They were followed by the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, in fifth and sixth respectively, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, in seventh, with his team mate Charles Leclerc down in P11.

    There were no major incidents in the session, although we did see a number of drivers run wide, especially at Turn 22, as they look to get to grips with the revised layout at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

    Click on the video player above to relive the action from FP1 in Jeddah.