Max Verstappen's woes continue as Pierre Gasly quickest in Saudi practice
18 April 2025, 16:22
Max Verstappen continued to struggle with his Red Bull car as Pierre Gasly was the surprise pace-setter in first practice for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
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The four-time world champion has outlined the balance issues affecting his car after a disappointing weekend in Bahrain last time out.
Those struggles have raised talk over his Red Bull future and he was again off the pace in the opening running on Friday.
Verstappen was heard on the team radio to say “I have no balance” and explain how he was struggling to turn the car in sector one.
The Dutchman was only ninth fastest, one place ahead of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, and almost six tenths off the pace set by Alpine’s Gasly.
Lando Norris leads the championship standings by three points from McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri after the Australian’s victory in Bahrain last weekend.
The British driver was only 0.007 seconds off Gasly’s time on the shores of the Red Sea.
Less than a tenth of a second separated Norris in second and Piastri in fourth, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third.
George Russell, who secured a superb second place in Bahrain, was sixth fastest for Mercedes behind Williams’ Alex Albon.
Lewis Hamilton was unable to find the same pace as his Ferrari team-mate Leclerc and was only eighth fastest.
First practice is not the most representative session, run during the day while qualifying and the race take place in the evening in Jeddah.
Second practice, which best replicates conditions for the competitive action, gets under way at 2000 local time (1800 BST).
