Verstappen leads Red Bull one-two in first Saudi GP practice

17 March 2023 - 17:10 By Reuters
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Max Verstappen on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on March 17, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Max Verstappen on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on March 17, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Image: Lars Baron/Getty Images

Formula One champion Max Verstappen shrugged off a stomach upset and picked up where he left off on Friday, with the Dutch driver leading Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez one-two in first practice for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, third in the March 5 opener in Bahrain behind Verstappen and Perez, was again the best of the rest.

Last year's winner Verstappen, who delayed his arrival in the kingdom as he recovered from the bug, got straight down to work with a fastest lap of one minute 29.617 seconds.

Perez was 0.483 slower with double world champion Alonso 0.698 off Verstappen's pace and Canadian team mate Lance Stroll, still recovering from breaking both wrists and a big toe in a preseason cycling accident, fourth.

The Mercedes pair of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were fifth and sixth and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was the seventh quickest.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who will have a 10-place penalty on the grid for Sunday's race after a change of electronic control unit, was 11th.


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