Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) once again raises expectations. After a very discreet 9th place in the first race of the year in Bahrain, the Spanish driver was the fastest in the first free practice of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the second of the World Championship, on the Jeddah street circuit.
Alonso, in the night session, carried out a qualifying simulation and left his immediate pursuers more than 2 tenths behind in the best of his 24 laps: George Russell with the Mercedes was the closest to 0s230 and Max Verstappen was third at 0s331.
The Spaniard was the fastest in short runs, when using the soft tire, although he was not as competitive with the medium rubber in long runs of the race, in which the Red Bull proved to be one step ahead of all the rivals.
Alonso already left a very good feeling in the first test, in daylight, in which he was second, just 189 thousandths behind Max Verstappen, the fastest, and ahead of Checo Pérez, the Mercedes and the two Ferraris, who had surpassed him clearly in Bahrain.
In the afternoon training sessions, Carlos Sainz achieved the seventh time, despite going out on the track with a 39ºC fever due to feeling physically unwell with gastric problems. The Madrid native was 628 thousandths behind his friend Alonso.
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), who disappointed in the first race in Bahrain, still cannot find the right line and posted a discreet eighth fastest time, 677 thousandths behind the Asturian.
