What happened in Alpine-led first F1 Saudi GP practice

Formula 1's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend started with a surprise pacesetter in the opening practice session as Alpine's Pierre Gasly led championship leader Lando Norris.

Gasly fired in a 1m29.239s to steal the top spot in the session with just over 20 minutes remaining, pipping Norris, who had set his fastest lap a few minutes before Gasly, by just 0.007s.

That follows on from Alpine's strongest weekend of the season so far in Bahrain, where Gasly qualified fifth (and started fourth due to a grid penalty for Kimi Antonelli) and raced to seventh to end Alpine's point-less start to 2025.

Charles Leclerc was third fastest for Ferrari in FP1 in Jeddah, 0.070s adrift of Gasly's benchmark.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri completed the top four which was covered by just 0.102s.

Piastri is running McLaren's new upgrade on Friday in Jeddah, a package that comprises a reshaped diffuser and a change to the rear brake duct winglet.

Norris is running the older-spec McLaren, with the team expected to make a decision after Friday as to which spec to run on each car.

Alex Albon was fifth for Williams, 0.367s slower than Gasly, with George Russell's Mercedes sixth ahead of Albon's team-mate Carlos Sainz.

Lewis Hamilton was eighth with Max Verstappen ninth, both just inside six tenths of Gasly.

Yuki Tsunoda was 10th, lapping just 0.003s slower than Verstappen.

Liam Lawson was 11th for Racing Bulls, but he'll face a post-session investigation for failing to follow the race director's instructions.

Nico Hukenberg was 12th, running Sauber's new floor, with rookie team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto 20th on the old floor.

Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin was 14th, leaving Haas as the slowest team in FP1 with Ollie Bearman - surviving a brush with the wall at Turn 1 that gave him front wing damage early in the session - 18th ahead of team-mate Esteban Ocon.

FP1 times

1 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 1m29.239s
2 Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.007s
3 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.070s
4 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.102s
5 Alex Albon (Williams) +0.367s
6 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.379s
7 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +0.540s
8 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.576s
9 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.579s
10 Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) +0.582s
11 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +0.668s
12 Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) +0.677s
13 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.695s
14 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +0.737s
15 Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) +0.772s
16 Jack Doohan (Alpine) +0.944s
17 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +1.344s
18 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +1.356s
19 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +1.790s
20 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) +1.799s