Cars are finally on track again ahead of the first double header of Season 10 in Diriyah. After the inaugural round in Mexico City, won by Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein, will the championship standings be vastly different after the two Saudi Arabian races, or will the German reenact his very consistent start of 2023, taking both wins again?
The first drivers to exit the pit lane under the bright light of the moon were the Envision drivers, immediately followed by the rest of the grid. A5t the beginning of the session, just like it had happened in the last round, a brief test of the full course yellow technology took place.
The early fastest lap was put in by Mexico City’s P2 sitter Sebastien Buemi, improved shortly after by Di Grassi and both DS Penske drivers.
Photo credits: Nissan NISMO
After the first set of attempts, the best effort has been put in by the Jaguars, with Evans ahead of his new teammate Cassidy in 1:25.330s. Penske and Envision are consistent contenders for the top spots as well, confirming the first sensations from the inaugural championship round.
The first driver to sign a lap in the 1:24s was two times champion Jean-Eric Vergne, with his former teammate Antonio Felix Da Costa in P2. A surprising name pops up at the front ten minutes into the session, as ERT’s Dan Ticktum improves the previous best effort from JEV.
The latest team to cycle at the front in this busy FP1 is Porsche, who are looking forward to what could be a third win in a row at the location, with reigning champion Jake Dennis slotting in between the two drivers.
At the midway point in the session, many drivers stop at the pits for fresh rubber and setup changes. Dennis leads from Buemi and Da Costa in 1:20.730, as the times get closer and closer to the actual race pace.
Mortara, who has switched to Mahindra from Maserati at the beginning of the season, signs the second best time of the day after a less than pleasing first race with both drivers out of the points.
Another team who so far appears to be doing much better than in their previous 2024 outing is ABT Cupra, going from a double DNF to featuring both drivers in the top 10.
The first red flag of the weekend was issued with 14 minutes to go, as our latest podium finisher Sebastien Buemi came to a stop in the middle of the track between Turn 3 and 4. Leader under the red flag is once again Vergne, followed by Sette Camara and Dennis.
The session will have to be extended in order to make up for the time lost while recovering the Swiss driver’s car, with Envision’s Team Principal Sylvain Filippi appearing to be rather worried, especially while thinking about the lost track time, as the driver stopped on track due to a critical battery issue.
The session was restarted with three minutes to go and ten minutes added of additional time. With their earliest attempts, both Jaguar drivers immediately returned at the top of the timings. The track gets faster by the minute, as Frijns, Dennis and Rowland rapidly cycle through P1 and Evans is the first driver to sign a lap in the 1:18s.
With five minutes to go, the DS Penske duo leads with Vergne in 1:16.175s and Vandoorne, but in the final stages of the session Rowland bolted to P1 with a 1:15.400s, only 0.165s faster than Vergne previously in the lead, showing again on his Nissan an impressive deal of speed, just like it had happened during practise in Mexico.
