Verstappen sets early pace in Saudi, ending first practice one second clear of Mercedes

Max Verstappen overcame an ill spell this week to end the opening practice session in Saudi Arabia with the quickest time.

The Red Bull driver set a 1:29.617 around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, going 0.483sec quicker than Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin. Verstappen's teammate, Sergio Perez, rounded out the top three.

These three drivers were in a class of their own throughout the session, but they were threatened by the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in the opening minutes. However, the two red cars quickly fell off the pace and ended the session in seventh (Sainz) and eleventh (Leclerc).

?? FREE PRACTICE 1 ??Max Verstappen tops the opening practice session of the weekend! #SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/j5PHkRkjnu

Mercedes on the up?

The Mercedes-AMG duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton looked rather good on track, despite being almost a second off Verstappen's pace. Russell was 1.154 seconds slower, with Hamilton a smidgen behind.

They were quicker than the rest of the field, but it remains to be seen if this pace will carry into the next two practice sessions, qualifying and Sunday's race.

The two surprises were Pierre Gasly (Alpine, eighth) and Alex Albon (Williams, ninth), who looked comfortable in between the regular top 10 contenders. AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda was tenth.