Verstappen has trouble with the soft tires
When the light in the pit lane turns green, all drivers immediately seize the opportunity to explore the new track in Saudi Arabia. Where most drivers still take it easy in the initial phase of this 1st free practice, Verstappen immediately gives full throttle on the hard tires. Max indicated earlier in the press conference that he is not under pressure from the title fight. By immediately pushing the limit on this circuit where the walls are always close to the white lines, he puts his words into action.
In the second half Mercedes picks up the pace a bit more. Both Bottas and Hamilton then improve the fastest time. If Verstappen wants to do his lap on the soft tires, he runs into a problem. On the soft tires, which should be faster, Verstappen is suddenly a lot slower than before. Only on his third and last run does he manage to set the second fastest time. Red Bull will therefore have to adjust Verstappen’s set-up to ensure that the car will also work on the soft tires.
Furthermore, we don’t see any crashes on this new high-speed circuit yet. We see several times that the drivers get in each other’s way on this narrow circuit. So it seems only a matter of time before we see the first crash.
1st free practice of the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP
01. Lewis Hamilton
02. Max Verstappen
03. Valtteri Bottas
04. Pierre Gasly
05. Antonio Giovinazzi
Dates and times of the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP
Friday December 3, 2021
2nd free practice: 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Saturday, December 4, 2021
3rd free practice: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Qualification: 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Sunday 5 December 2021
Race: 6:30 pm
