Heading into the penultimate round of 2021 F1 season, Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in FP1. His teammate, Valtteri Bottas was 0.2 secs behind in third. Splitting the two Mercedes drivers was the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

Red Bull were running a lower downforce rear wing. Sergio Perez for majority of the session was down in the timesheets. The Mexican ended FP1 at P11.

Max Verstappen after hitting consecutive purple sectors in the first half was back in the garage. He took the kerb at Turn 23, which saw his team checking out the floor of his car.

Pierre Gasly found himself in P4. He radioed, “Smells like something is very hot in the car.” Maybe the high temperature of Jeddah got to the senses of the AlphaTauri driver. Hopefully he won’t feel the same during the night sessions.

Valtteri Bottas came on the radio to praise the Jeddah Corniche Circuit: “F*** This track is cool!” A great way to start his 100th race for Mercedes this weekend.

Antonio Giovinazzi who is set to be replaced by Guanyu Zhou in 2022, is enjoying the new track as well, ending at P5. His teammate, Kimi Raikkonen however was at P16. The Finn is also set to leave Formula 1.

The fight for the third place in the Constructors’ Championship was again a bit wobbled. Though, McLaren’s Lando Norris was going quicker than the Ferraris earlier in FP1, he ended his session in P13. The other McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo was behind the Ferrari duo at P8. 

All the cars are running Frank Williams’ name this weekend. The legend who founded the Williams racing team passed away on Sunday.

“I feel the need..The need for speed.” 💙

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