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On the fast street circuit, Verstappen recorded a fastest time of 1.30.888. He did that on the loudest available tape. Leclerc was a good tenth of a second faster, but rode on the softest rubber. Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz followed behind Verstappen.
Lewis Hamilton did not get further than ninth during the first session. He was over a second and a half slower than Leclerc on the softest tire. Hamilton bounced again in his Mercedes, not exactly conducive to driving comfort on the Saudi street circuit.
The first practice was stopped for almost ten minutes after Lando Norris (McLaren) hit a loose board. That caused a lot of mess on the track. The first training was not really representative in terms of weather conditions. The second session will be held on Friday at 8 p.m. local time, the same time as the qualifying and race on Saturday and Sunday.
