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The 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP race weekend began in the same vein as the Bahrain GP ended, with Max Verstappen on top of the sheets. The Dutch driver was followed by teammate Sergio Perez as the Austrian team once again set the benchmark for the rest of the grid. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso had the third-fastest lap time, continuing his impressive run this season.
In a session that might not prove to be as representative in terms of the times, teams up and down the grid trialed their upgrades to gain an understanding of what they have brought to the Saudi Arabian GP.
With teams on different run plans and cars running different fuel loads and engine modes, times were somewhat all over the place and the pecking order would start emerging in FP2.
Having said that, there are still key nuggets of information that could be extracted from the session. What were they? Well, let's take a look.
2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP FP1: Key Takeaways
#1 The stomach bug has not slowed down Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen is in a different league at the moment and with a car like Red Bull, he can do no wrong. The most important aspect of his run in the Saudi Arabian GP's FP1 was the consistent improvement he showed in lap times. The Red Bull driver has got the car where he wants it to be and he's leaving everyone else, including his teammate, in a trail of smoke.
Stomach bug or not, Max Verstappen started the weekend by revealing his cards to the entire grid, and those cards are bloody good by the looks of it.
#2 Ferrari and Aston Martin are part of the chasing pack
Ferrari ran the session in more conservative engine modes, which became clear when the two Haas drivers initially clocked faster laps than Charles Leclerc. Having said that, it is starting to become evident that both Ferrari and Aston Martin are the teams that are in the chasing pack.
Fernando Alonso was third in the session, 0.698 seconds behind Verstappen's time, and could end up splitting the two Red Bulls come Sunday. The Spaniard's teammate Lance Stroll finished fourth.
Meanwhile, we could also see the Ferraris slot in among the top spots as the team finally lets go of the sandbags on race day. Ferrari is still a question mark for now but it does appear that the two teams are in the chasing pack for now.
#3 Keep an eye on Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes
While Mercedes were the third-fastest team in FP1, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finishing fifth and sixth respectively, it is becoming increasingly evident that their car is not in the same league as Ferrari or Aston Martin. What was however interesting to see was the slightly tense nature of the exchange between Lewis and his race engineer during FP1.
Lewis knows the car is just not there and the frustration is starting to creep in. Additionally, Alpine appears to have started piecing together the puzzle now. Pierre Gasly was not too far behind and has claimed that the French team could challenge Mercedes.
If Alpine does end up challenging the Mercedes drivers in the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP, it will be interesting to see the dynamics between the Silver Arrows and their drivers.
#4 Tire degradation is not going to be a factor this weekend
One of the major talking points in Bahrain was tire degradation for a lot of teams. Haas struggled because of it and so did Ferrari. By the looks of it, the smooth surface at Jeddah is not going to force teams into a tire-saving exercise. The tires are holding on very well and we can expect a one-stop race at the Saudi Arabian GP.
#5 The middle battle is going to be unpredictable
The picture in the midfield is anybody's guess at the moment. Alfa Romeo ran a completely different program, while there's not even the faintest of idea of the fuel loads that the Williams drivers carried.
There's definitely a level of uncertainty in the midfield at the moment and this is going to continue until the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP on Sunday. As Lando Norris said in a press conference on Thursday, some teams are strong on Saturday, others are strong on Sunday.
The pecking order that emerged in Bahrain is not going to be there in the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP, and we can expect different challenges to make things even more unpredictable.
