Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were seventh and eleventh fastest respectively in the first free practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche circuit.
49 laps. Following Leclerc’s retirement from the Bahrain race, both SF-23s were fitted with a new power unit as a precaution. The pair started the session on Hard tyres as they familiarised themselves with the track, which is far from straightforward with several blind corners, walls close to the edge and traffic posing a constant threat. After switching to the Soft compound, Sainz posted a time of 1’30”924 and Leclerc did a 1’31”118. In the final third of the session, both drivers then took on a heavier fuel load to run at race pace, using different compounds (Soft for Leclerc and Hard for Sainz.) The former completed a total of 26 laps and the latter did 23, as they achieved one of the targets for the session, that of getting plenty of miles under their belt thus building confidence between the walls. The second session starts at 20 local (18 CET).