Lewis Hamilton led championship rival Max Verstappen by less than 0.1s in opening practice at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
With the sun setting, drivers got their first taste of the high-speed Jeddah Corniche Circuit with Valtteri Bottas “f**k this track is cool” on the radio.
Initially, it was Verstappen leading comfortably on a set of hard tyres as he wasted little time in pushing the limits.
But on the soft compound, there was nothing to choose between the Dutchman and the two Mercedes’, as Hamilton set the pace with a 1m29.786s.
Verstappen would improve with his final lap of the session to go P2, just 0.056s slower, with Bottas a further 0.2s back in third.
Pierre Gasly was fourth and Antonio Giovinazzi fifth, ahead of the two Ferrari’s with Carlos Sainz sixth and Charles Leclerc seventh.
Daniel Ricciardo took eighth in the first of the McLarens, as teammate Lando Norris’ best lap was ruined by a spooky moment at Turn 22.
Sebastian Vettel claimed ninth while Sergio Perez was only 10th in the second Red Bull, 1.1s off the pace.
Full results from Practice 1 can be seen below:
Full classification from FP1 in Jeddah ?
Very little to choose between our title contenders! #SaudiArabianGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/msr5WnyQU9
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 3, 2021