Verstappen leads the way in Qatar GP FP1 as title looms

Max Verstappen kicked off what is likely to be the weekend in which he seals the world championship by setting the fastest time in first practice at the Qatar Grand Prix.

In a mixed-up session due to a variety of strategies being employed in the only practice outing ahead of qualifying later this evening, Verstappen went fastest by a little over 0.3s late on while using the soft tires. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc then fell short on softs at the end of FP1, although Leclerc was on his second attempt after having been off track at Turn 4 on his first timed lap on those tires.

Fernando Alonso was fourth on the mediums ahead of Sergio Perez, Yuki Tsunoda and Nico Hulkenberg – the latter trio on softs – while George Russell used mediums to finish eighth with his final lap, ahead of the two McLarens on hard tires.

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Despite the familiar name at the top of the times, it was a tough session to read due to the wide use of different compounds and track conditions, with teams needing to run despite qualifying, the Sprint and the race itself all taking place after dark with much lower track temperatures.

An early complaint came from Verstappen who was unhappy with visibility, saying that the setting sun was making it tough to see where he was going. As much as it was a familiar circuit to the drivers that had raced here in 2021, it was an unfamiliar track surface after a new asphalt was laid down recently and that was one aspect that led to low grip conditions.

Lap times were a massive four seconds slower than FP1 in 2021 – for comparison, the following race was in Jeddah that year and saw FP1 lap times identical to the same session at the same venue this year – but did improve as the sun dropped and floodlights started to take over late on.

Another factor in those times was the wind, with extremely gusty conditions that had been leading to warnings on public highways outside of the circuit. On track it meant there were numerous snaps of oversteer when a tailwind unsettled cars in certain corners, Turn 4 and Turn 6 proving particularly challenging on that front.

The latter corner caught out Verstappen at one stage as he had to save the car from spinning and only just managed to hold onto it in the dusty run-off area before being a little surprised when he rejoined alongside Hulkenberg. It was an eventful session for the champion-elect – who can win the title by scoring just three points in Saturday’s Sprint -– as he also joined Lando Norris in demolishing a brake marker board while running wide at one stage.

Third-placed Leclerc also had a big snap to deal with at Turn 4 on his soft tire lap and backed off – the second such moment he had during the session – while Alex Albon twice aborted attempts due to similar issues. Most drivers had off-track moments to handle at some point.

Teams are now faced with the challenge of locking in their set-ups and cooling configurations for the rest of the race weekend ahead of qualifying tonight, with parc ferme coming into effect once that session starts.