Alpine's Pierre Gasly emerged the surprise star of opening practice at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah on Friday.
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The Frenchman, who banked his team's first points of the season last weekend in Bahrain, topped the times with a quickest lap of 1min 29.239sec.
That was only seven thousandths of a second faster than McLaren's world championship leader Lando Norris, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in third.
Pierre Gasly sets the fastest time! 💨
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 18, 2025
Here's your top three from first practice here in Saudi Arabia ⬇️#F1 #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/KShTkphLRo
Oscar Piastri, only three points behind Norris in the drivers' standings after his second win of the year last Sunday, posted the fourth best time ahead of the Williams of Alex Albon in a close session with less than half a second splitting the top five.
The McLaren duo quickly posted a signal of intent for the weekend, with Russell joining the 'papaya' party at the top of the early times.
The Mercedes man, aiming to maintain his encouraging start to 2025, was the first to post a sub 1.30 lap.
Carlos Sainz, who this time last year was struggling with appendicitis which was to eventually rule him out of the 2024 race, declared himself happy with his Williams' speed.
And the Spaniard then added substance to his words by going provisional second, behind Russell.
The two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda were lying third and fourth as the team sought to draw a line in the sand after floundering in the Bahraini desert a week ago.
Oliver Bearman locked up at the track which will always hold a special place in the British teenager's heart after he was called up at the last minute to replace Sainz by Ferrari last year, making a stunning debut to finish seventh that day.
"I don't know what happened," said the Haas rookie after clipping a wall.
Piastri then told his team to check his car after brushing a barrier.
Inside the closing 20 minutes there was a new name at the top when Gasly got a flyer from his Alpine.
Sainz meanwhile got a nasty surprise from a Ferrari when on a fast lap, complaining on the team radio: "The Ferrari woah, so dangerous."
No one could better Gasly's time in a session held in bright sunshine and unrepresentative of the conditions drivers will face in qualifying and the race itself, both held after sunset under floodlights in cooler temperatures.
Pierre Gasly jumps to the top of the timesheets! 👀
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 18, 2025
It's a 1:29.239 for the Alpine driver ⏱️#F1 #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/a73tYKNqB6
Russell slipped to sixth at the end, with Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari in eighth, one place ahead of Verstappen as Tsunoda completed the top 10.
Second practice is scheduled for later Friday, with final practice on Saturday ahead of qualifying for this fifth round of the 24-race season.