Ferrari and Mercedes are far behind

The two-time world champion relegated his Mexican Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez to second place in the first training session on the six-kilometer street circuit in Jeddah and the Spaniard Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin in the second session. The maximum for Mercedes was two fifth places by George Russell.

Record world champion Lewis Hamilton didn't get past sixth and eleventh place in the second Mercedes. The seven-time champion and Jeddah premiere winner in 2021 sometimes had problems keeping the racing car on the narrow, high-speed track. Ferrari was also well behind with Carlos Sainz (7th and 10th) and Charles Leclerc (11th and 9th).

Alonso strong again Red Bull's fiercest opponent is likely to be Alonso. The 41-year-old veteran had already finished third behind Verstappen and Perez at the start two weeks ago in Bahrain. In the faster second training session on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, the 2005 and 2006 world champion was only 0,208 seconds short of Verstappen's best time of the day - and that with a harder and therefore slower tire compound.

Alonso confirmed the competitiveness of his Aston Martin. His last victory to date was ten years ago, and his last pole position to date was eleven years ago. The Spaniard was third in the first free practice session, and in the evening, under conditions similar to those in qualifying and the race (Saturday and Sunday, 18.00 p.m./live on ORF 1 and Sky), he also caught Perez. The Mexican was around three tenths of a second behind Verstappen. “We don’t think Ferrari and Mercedes will get their problems under control.” Red Bull's motorsport consultant Helmut Marko The signs also speak for the world champion racing team in Saudi Arabia. “We don’t think Ferrari and Mercedes will get their problems under control. We therefore see Aston Martin as our first pursuer,” Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Marko had previously explained in an interview with the “Kleine Zeitung” (Friday edition). It will generally be difficult for Mercedes to catch up. “I don’t think Mercedes will be competitive before the summer,” said Marko.

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Ferrari and Mercedes are far behind

Defending champion and opening winner Max Verstappen started the Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend in Saudi Arabia on Friday with two best times.

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