Max fastest and seems happy with the car. No complaints from him so he seems comfortable.
Interesting they are slower in P1 this year than last, not by much but.....
Max was fastest last year with a 1:29.617. Mind you he was the. only one in the 29's.
As a target pole last year was a 1:28.265.
Russell was looking quick early in the session and indeed led for much of it, until Max started trying harder.
It must be that teams were running drivers on different programmes I think.... most teams seem to have a gap between their two drivers.
Lance Stroll was the only one to have a major moment with him clouting an inside wall in a bit of a misjudgement.
Soft tyres seem to be lasting well with some reasonably long runs.
Like last week this session was not really representative...... that will be P2 later on, after dark and in the cool so more relevant to both qualifying and race.
POS DRIVERGAP TYRE TYRES USED
1 Max VERSTAPPEN1:29.659 3
2 Fernando ALONSO+0.186 3
3 Sergio PEREZ+0.209 5
4 George RUSSELL+0.280 4
5 Charles LECLERC+0.371 4
6 Carlos SAINZ+0.505 5
7 Lando NORRIS+0.572 4
8 Lewis HAMILTON+0.577 5
9 Lance STROLL+0.921 3
10 Alexander ALBON+1.088 3
11 Valtteri BOTTAS+1.124 4
12 Daniel RICCIARDO+1.258 4
13 Esteban OCON+1.286 4
14 Logan SARGEANT+1.307 3
15 Oscar PIASTRI+1.318 4
16 Yuki TSUNODA+1.377 2
17 Pierre GASLY+1.387 3
18 Guanyu ZHOU+1.472 4
19 Nico HULKENBERG+1.752 4
20 Kevin MAGNUSSEN+1.918 3
* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left
“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)
* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
I will be off to Phillip Island for the weekend in about 3 hrs time and going to get some sleep first so I wont be around for P2. Likely not P3 qualy or race either although I will check in here during my daytime and no doubt catch up on replays of qualy anyway..
* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left
“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)
* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
Surprised to see Max did not finish fastest, not even 2nd. Gives some hope for the race given this was representative of race conditions. Of course though it was relevant but no grid positions or points were up for grabs so who knows how hard he was trying or even what programme he was following. Maybe he ran the whole programme on heavy fuel loads.
I didnt watch the session so can only draw from the numbers.
POS DRIVERGAP TYRE TYRES USED
1 Fernando ALONSO1:28.827 3
2 George RUSSELL+0.230 5
3 Max VERSTAPPEN+0.331 4
4 Charles LECLERC+0.353 5
5 Sergio PEREZ+0.473 4
6 Lance STROLL+0.509 4
7 Carlos SAINZ+0.628 4
8 Lewis HAMILTON+0.677 4
9 Pierre GASLY+0.701 3
10 Oscar PIASTRI+0.767 5
11 Yuki TSUNODA+0.839 3
12 Lando NORRIS+0.931 5
13 GuanyuZHOU+0.950 3
14 Alexander ALBON+0.962 4
15 Esteban OCON+1.074 3
16 Logan SARGEANT+1.107 4
17 Kevin MAGNUSSEN+1.158 3
18 Nico HULKENBERG+1.250 4
19 Daniel RICCIARDO+1.261 3
20 Valtteri BOTTAS+1.326 4
* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left
“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)
* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
Hamilton hindered Sargeant during the second free practice session and thus created a dangerous situation. Sargeant was just able to avoid the Brit. Yet, the action has no major consequences for Hamilton. The Mercedes driver receives a warning from the FIA.
The FIA statement makes it clear that Lewis Hamilton was not informed by Mercedes about the upcoming Sargeant. The FIA sees it as a major mistake by the team and will issue a fine of €15,000. Hamilton gets away with a warning.
He gets a warning (what else, he is Hamilton), and Mercedes has to pay financial penalty. I thought a senior driver has rear view mirrors on his car, and he would know how to use them. Vettel was lectured by Hamilton on that subject, and he earned some demerit points. Well today, stew*rds probably forgot about it.
Aty wrote: ↑1 month ago
He gets a warning (what else, he is Hamilton), and Mercedes has to pay financial penalty. I thought a senior driver has rear view mirrors on his car, and he would know how to use them. Vettel was lectured by Hamilton on that subject, and he earned some demerit points. Well today, stew*rds probably forgot about it.
I always wonder why they have a tracker? Why do they have a radio? Why is it not possible that Lewis, and Sainz get warned by their respective teams, that Logan is on his way on a fast lap and is closing in very fast?
Brian Redman: "Mr. Fangio, how do you come so fast?" "More throttle, less brakes...."
Aty wrote: ↑1 month ago
He gets a warning (what else, he is Hamilton), and Mercedes has to pay financial penalty. I thought a senior driver has rear view mirrors on his car, and he would know how to use them. Vettel was lectured by Hamilton on that subject, and he earned some demerit points. Well today, stew*rds probably forgot about it.
I always wonder why they have a tracker? Why do they have a radio? Why is it not possible that Lewis, and Sainz get warned by their respective teams, that Logan is on his way on a fast lap and is closing in very fast?
I thought drivers on a cool down lap can move off the racing line and making it available to others coming from behind. This should be possible without pit-wall assistance.
Aty wrote: ↑1 month ago
I thought drivers on a cool down lap can move off the racing line and making it available to others coming from behind. This should be possible without pit-wall assistance.
This won't work that way. The racing line switches from the left to right on a track. When you position your car on the left side of the road, at some moment you have to switch to the right side, when the racing line is on the left side. The car on a fast lap can be there at that same moment of switching from left to right.
Communication is the key. And the speed differences should not be that big. Keep up some pace on your in- and out-lap.
Brian Redman: "Mr. Fangio, how do you come so fast?" "More throttle, less brakes...."
Aty wrote: ↑1 month ago
I thought drivers on a cool down lap can move off the racing line and making it available to others coming from behind. This should be possible without pit-wall assistance.
This won't work that way. The racing line switches from the left to right on a track. When you position your car on the left side of the road, at some moment you have to switch to the right side, when the racing line is on the left side. The car on a fast lap can be there at that same moment of switching from left to right.
Communication is the key. And the speed differences should not be that big. Keep up some pace on your in- and out-lap.
OK, but what the radio call from the pits will solve? A driver cannot drive off-track to make himself invisible, and since this is pre-race qualification run, a driver on a slow down lap is cognizant of others potentially coming behind at any moment, and who must receive courtesy of letting them go without (or minimum) obstructions. He has to monitor front and back. I am not going to resolve anything with being argumentative here, but I cannot help to think, that primary responsibility and onus for being neutral in those situations is on a driver, not pit-wall. Maybe I am just in bad mood over all that hand holding modern drivers receive, just as that tendency of others sitting in pit areas insisting that they know better what to do than a driver actively involved.
Star wrote: ↑1 month ago
Carlos Sainz won't be racing this weekend then. Bless his heart he's got appendicitis. That happened to Albon a couple of years ago as I recall. Anyway, Ferrari are bringing in Oliver Bearman to stand in for him. That has to be a huge deal for him so good luck to him I say.
Carlos Sainz will take no further part in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend after being diagnosed with appendicitis that requires surgery, with Ferrari reserve driver Oliver Bearman stepping in to replace him.
Sainz had skipped his pre-weekend media duties at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, before taking part in Thursday’s FP1 and FP2 sessions.
Having described the outing as his “toughest” in an F1 car to date, Ferrari confirmed on Friday morning that the Spaniard has been ruled out of action, and that F2 racer Bearman will take his spot alongside Charles Leclerc from FP3 onwards.
“Carlos Sainz has been diagnosed with appendicitis and will require surgery,” read a brief statement issued by Ferrari, who wished their driver “a speedy recovery”.
“As from FP3 and for the rest of this weekend, he will be replaced by reserve driver Oliver Bearman. Oliver will therefore take no further part in this round of the F2 Championship.”
Appendicitis is the same condition that affected Alex Albon ahead of the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, with the Williams driver also having to undergo surgery as Nyck de Vries jumped in to substitute for him.
Bearman, 18, got his first taste of F1 machinery with Ferrari towards the end of last year, in preparation for a pair of FP1 outings for Haas at the Mexican and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix.
He has since completed several more F1 test runs with the Scuderia and is currently competing in F2 with the Prema Racing team, having won four races and placed sixth in the feeder series standings last year.
After a tough start to the 2024 campaign for Prema in Bahrain, Bearman struck back to claim pole position at the high-speed Jeddah track but, as Ferrari touched on, he will no longer take part in the F2 race weekend.
Apparently on 8th May 2005, Fernando Alonso was coming 2nd in the Spanish gp. That is the day young Ollie Bearman was being born. Any minute now, they're going to be on the same track together. Strange how things work out sometimes isn't it?
sorry for my mistake 
