Charles Leclerc and Ferrari put down the first marker in Qatar on a crucial weekend in the Constructors’ title race.
Leclerc’s 1:21.953 blitzed the McLaren competition in FP1, giving Ferrari the advantage as they continue their bid to deny McLaren the Constructors’ title.
Ferrari land the first shot in Qatar
For the first time in Formula 1, the light went green to get a 23rd round of the season underway, FP1 representing the sole hour of practice for the drivers at the Qatar Grand Prix on this F1 Sprint weekend.
On his first flying lap since becoming a four-time World Champion, Verstappen put down a 1:26.3 as the early benchmark for rivals to chase as the sun set in Doha, though the Dutchman promptly requested a change of helmet with too much air getting in, while Valtteri Bottas found himself stuck in “traffic paradise”.
No such troubles for Yuki Tsunoda who, on a weekend where he has questioned why he does not appear to be a serious contender to step up to Red Bull – upped the pace to a 1:26 flat, with Verstappen soon striking back. George Russell was battling “rubbish brakes” on his Mercedes W15 meanwhile.
Liam Lawson and Sergio Perez renewed acquaintances, Lawson exclaiming “Perez, honestly” as his rival came flying past his slow-moving VCARB, what Perez had done wrong not exactly clear, while Fernando Alonso, ahead of his 400th grand prix start, was forced into swift evasive action with traffic proving an early-session issue.
The pace continued to ramp up and with 20 minutes gone, Leclerc was out front, his 1:23.702 putting him a shade under two-tenths up on Verstappen with Pierre Gasly continuing to impress in P3.
Perez had a wide moment at Turn 15, continuing on unscathed, while Williams were given another heart-in-mouth moment with a trip over the kerb for Franco Colapinto.
F1 2024 head-to-heads going into Qatar GP
???? F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
???? F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates
After the opening runs mostly took place on the Pirelli medium tyres, that compound remained the go-to as the next push laps began with the session at its halfway point.
Turn 15 was also catching out Oscar Piastri, the Aussie left with work to do to move into the top 10. Norris in the sister McLaren meanwhile saw his flying lap ruined with a big slide at Turn 4/5. Gasly was asking Alpine to check the front of his car after his venture into the run-off.
Ferrari duo Leclerc and Carlos Sainz meanwhile went against the crowd and were out there on the hard tyre as Sainz jumped up to P2, a tenth behind his team-mate. His next attempt put him three-tenths clear.
It was McLaren “flying” though by Sergio Perez’s assessment, while Norris at the wheel of that MCL38 was frustrating Leclerc behind. “I don’t know what the hell Norris is doing,” he exclaimed.
As the session moved into the final third, Gasly’s Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon at last returned to the track after Alpine completed setup changes on his car.
Colapinto was putting the soft tyre through its paces and again was using every inch of the track and more as he kicked up the gravel.
Soft tyres became the order of the day for the final minutes of FP1, Leclerc finding eight-tenths to return to top spot, a whopping seven-tenths up on Sainz.
Slotting into P3 was Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin. But, here came McLaren!
Leclerc’s P1 time withstood the test, Norris settling into P2 and Piastri P3, before the Monegasque made a statement by increasing his buffer to four-and-a-half tenths.
Full FP1 times to come…
