Hamilton starts at the front in Saudi Arabia, but there is not enough evidence yet to substantiate that Jeddah Corniche is a Mercedes circuit. Yes, full foot for 80% of the lap and superiority for the Englishman, but they are only 56 thousandths over Verstappen. AND the Dutchman was in front since he planted the Red Bull on the asphalt, with soft or hard rubber, eating the pianos and plenty of confidence. Not everything is power on a track full of very fast straights and linked lines, you also need a good package that recharges the energy consumed with hardly any braking to recover. And in that, Honda took giant steps.
Beyond the anecdotal difference, and with Bottas two tenths behind the roosters, in the first training session of the Saudi Arabian GP accidents and red flags were expected (judging by F2) that never came, because these pilots are still very good. when they come across a four-mile mousetrap that no one had rolled through until this morning. There were barely two periods of fleeting yellow flag in the first hour of free practice. At night, in Jeddah, it will be the second, already in qualifying and race time and much more useful for teams and drivers.
Carlos Sainz signed the sixth fastest time, That sounds good but is not so convincing when Gasly and Giovinazzi sneaked in front, two rivals in cars that, theoretically, should be inferior to Ferrari. At least the Alfa Romeo, because the Frenchman’s Alpha Tauri has been in the top-5 on Saturdays with enormous frequency since the Turkish GP. Alonso, meanwhile, was ninth with the Alpine, while Ocon was 12th, just behind Checo with the other Red Bull. That may serve to unbalance the balance of the title in favor of Mercedes: where is Hamilton’s partner and where, Verstappen’s.