Fernando Alonso from the Aston Martin F1 Team AMR24 was the fastest driver during Thursday’s practice sessions for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah. Alonso clocked a time of 1:28.827s, putting him two tenths ahead of his closest competitor, George Russell. Reigning champion Max Verstappen finished in third place, followed by Charles Leclerc. Sergio Perez initially held the fastest time, but Alonso and Verstappen ended up surpassing him. There was a close incident involving Logan Sargeant, Lewis Hamilton, and Carlos Sainz, resulting in Hamilton and Sargeant facing the Stewards. Alonso regained the top spot after the first attempts with soft compound tires, with Russell improving to second place. Verstappen showed strong race pace with medium tires, finishing third overall. Lance Stroll, Carlos Sainz, and Lewis Hamilton completed the top eight. Pierre Gasly and Oscar Piastri rounded out the top ten. The other drivers, led by Yuki Tsunoda, Lando Norris, Guanyu Zhou, and Alex Albon, finished over a second behind Alonso’s fastest time. Esteban Ocon, Logan Sargeant, the Haas duo, Daniel Ricciardo, and Valtteri Bottas completed the order.
