MCLAREN KICKS WEEKEND OFF IN FRONT AS PIASTRI TOPS PRACTICE
Oscar Piastri leads the only free practice session in Qatar, finishing ahead of his team mate Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso.
The Sprint makes its last appearance of the season in Qatar, and the drivers have only one hour of practice to prepare and find the best set-up before an important Sprint Qualifying session under the night lights.
When the sun began to set at the Lusail International Circuit, the cars lined up at 16:30 local time, all using the hard tyres for the first laps of the weekend.
George Russell and Max Verstappen both spent a short time at the top of the times, but Nico Hulkenberg from Kick Sauber set several fastest sectors and easily moved ahead of them.
Verstappen, who is 24 points behind championship leader Lando Norris, then went almost eight tenths quicker with a 1:23.343 lap. Soon after, he reported problems with his front-left tyre.
His issues continued when he said he also had trouble with his steering. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had the same complaint while sitting in P15. He later improved to sixth, pushing Verstappen down to P7, while rookie Kimi Antonelli set the fastest time.
Most drivers tried to complete many laps early on, but Norris was near the bottom in both lap count and pace. After changes in the garage, his first push lap went wide and sent dust flying, leaving him in P20.
About halfway through the session, the track became quiet as many drivers returned to the pits. Russell stayed in P1, two tenths ahead of Verstappen. Leclerc again reported a problem with the balance of his Ferrari, sitting more than a second behind the Mercedes.
Norris slowly began to set better laps, but both McLarens were still far from the front. Oscar Piastri was ninth, Norris eleventh. They were not the only ones struggling with the windy conditions and the low grip of the smooth track.
Most teams focused on learning how the hard tyres behaved, but with 10 minutes left, Isack Hadjar switched to soft tyres and immediately jumped to first place.
More drivers switched to softs, and times improved quickly. McLaren finally found pace, with Norris taking P1 ahead of Piastri. The Australian improved again near the end, but finished just 0.058s behind his teammate with a 1:20.294 lap.
Fernando Alonso finished third for Aston Martin, followed by Carlos Sainz and Hadjar. Verstappen ended the session in P6. Behind him came Alex Albon, Leclerc, and Lance Stroll, with Antonelli completing the top ten.
Teams now have only a few hours to adjust their cars before Sprint Qualifying starts at 20:30 local time.
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