Motorsports
Saudi Arabia GP: Leclerc a tenth faster than Ferstappen in the first tests in Jeddah
Charles Leclerc and Max Ferstappen renewed their appointments to Bahrain in the opening freestyle of the Saudi Arabian GP, where Ferrari’s Monegasse was 0.116s quicker than RBR’s Dutchman.
After winning an early fast lap on a hard tire, Max Ferstappen led the RB18 for almost the entire first hour of the Jeddah free test, which opened the second three-day race of this year’s Formula One Championship.
The process was soon interrupted by red flags for a few minutes when Lando Norris hit a braking point indicator on the first corner and filled the tarmac with debris.
Ferstappen returned after the break with the soft (red) eraser and set the fastest time on the first lane of the track – but then abandoned that fast lap and had a small exit at Turn 10.
The Dutchman then went on the laps on more fuel until Charles Leclerc made an effort in the closing minutes with fresh soft tires to celebrate the first year. Both Monegasque and Carlos Saint didn’t manage a quick lap before the break, so they left their efforts with the soft rubber for the end.
Sainth was more than three and a half tenths off Leclerc and said he had very bad jumping problems. In fact, the Spaniard ended up falling behind Valteri Botas with the Alfa Romeo and the same engine as the Finn made his fast attempt with the soft rubber.
Everyone in the top ten drove their fastest lap on the soft tires. The two Alpha Tauri ended up in the top six with Pierre Gasley and Yuki Tsunoda, who was very close to the top in all tests and overtook Sergio Perez.
The two Alpines Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso, among whom was Lewis Hamilton, both finished in the top ten. The Briton again reported that the Mercedes W13 had serious problems with porpoises and ended up staying more than a second and a half from Leclerc. It’s worth noting that in these tests, Hamilton and George Russell tested two different wings – higher and lower lift – to solve the porpoise’s problem.
The only unlucky person was Kevin Magnussen von Haas. The Dane only completed two laps with the hard eraser and spent the rest of the time in the pits due to a problem in the hydraulic system.
Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.