The first day of on-track action in Jeddah ends with a McLaren one-two, this time with Lando Norris ahead of Oscar Piastri. The Briton appears more comfortable with the MCL39 on a circuit where confidence in the car is everything. First among the chasers for now is Max Verstappen, grappling with an RB21 only tamed by the soft compound — the same tyre currently holding Ferrari back in the first sector. It is shaping up to be a weekend full of unknowns, starting with tyre degradation, about which limited data is available.
Friday at the 6.174-kilometre Jeddah Corniche Circuit sees the World Championship leader return to the top, after his teammate had already led the way on Friday in Bahrain. It’s still early days, and the timing of Norris’ lap — a few minutes after Piastri’s — likely benefits from a cleaner track. Even during the daytime session, though, the Briton quickly finds his rhythm, giving the impression of a better connection with the MCL39 than seen in Sakhir. Lando is a driver who attacks corner entry aggressively, demanding a lot of front-end grip. It’s no surprise, then, that he’s competitive on a high-speed track that taxes the front end and requires a forward-shifted balance — characteristics that suit his driving style.
The internal McLaren battle remains wide open and will also depend on the configuration with which the MCL39s enter qualifying. A new diffuser has arrived in Saudi Arabia along with aerodynamic updates to the rear wheel assemblies, although these were reportedly fitted only on Piastri’s car during Friday, according to The Race. This isn’t a matter of favoritism, but rather a comparative test ahead of a Saturday decision on which direction to take for both cars. McLaren already seems set to run both cars with the low-downforce rear wing for the first time. Despite this setup, the papaya cars remain among the highest in downforce, ranking second to last in straight-line speed, ahead of only Aston Martin.
First among the rest is Verstappen, almost three tenths behind Norris, though that gap is influenced by worse track conditions during his flying lap. Still, the Dutchman is not misled by third place, clearly struggling in the first practice. Max complains over the radio about how easily the rear end steps out at high speed, and when asked to improve the balance between entry and exit in the final hairpin, he replies that there’s nothing he can do because “I basically have no balance.”
There’s a suspicion that the grip from the new soft tyres is masking the RB21’s flaws — an aspect that could still make the world champion a serious threat in qualifying. It will also be interesting to see how much power Honda still has in reserve, as they usually run a very conservative map on Fridays — a variable that could be significant on a track where over 70% of the lap is spent at full throttle.
Mercedes still an unknown
Mercedes remains a mystery. Kimi Antonelli continues a progressive approach, still not close to his teammate. In the evening session, contact with the wall exiting the final corner forces him to return to the garage as a precaution. George Russell, meanwhile, finishes no higher than seventh, though this must be seen in the context of track conditions, as he simulated qualifying about fifteen minutes earlier than Norris. Still, on the soft tyres, the Briton fails to impress, finishing behind a strong Carlos Sainz — finally happy with the harmony he feels with his Williams on a fast track. Russell reports a hint of bouncing in the fast corners once the soft tyre is fitted, a sign that might push the team to fine-tune ride height ahead of qualifying.
Ferrari, a critical first sector
Ferrari begins the day with both drivers on different setups. In the first free practice session, Charles Leclerc runs the new lower-drag DRS flap brought to Jeddah, while Lewis Hamilton uses the previous version and a less loaded beam wing, later switching to match the his teammate’s setup in the evening. After a slow start where both Ferrari drivers struggle to get close to the top times, Charles Leclerc is actually fastest on the medium tyres in the second session. However, the Monegasque has trouble once he switches to the softs, making two errors and ending up nearly half a second behind Lando Norris. Charles Leclerc still expresses satisfaction with the improvement since the first session and the setup direction, staying optimistic for qualifying. Both Ferrari drivers, however, suffer significant time loss in the first sector, due to multiple causes.
The SF-25 cars are the fastest cars on the straights, a sign they’re lacking downforce compared to the McLarens — a serious handicap in the long, sweeping corners of the opening sector. The Ferraris especially struggle in the first chicane, where the car’s weaknesses at low speeds and balance issues emerge. It is also possible that they’re having trouble exploiting the peak grip of the new soft tyres in the opening corners — a trait particularly difficult to access on Jeddah’s smooth tarmac and in a very narrow operating window. This might explain the strong performance on used mediums instead. As for Lewis Hamilton, his lack of synergy with the car tends to worsen in high-speed corners, where losing the rear is easier and full trust in the car is required to attack the entry just millimeters from the wall.
Getting the most out of the volatile new soft tyres will be key in qualifying, as teams prepare for a race full of unknowns. The red flag brought out by Yuki Tsunoda’s crash, in fact, prevents several key drivers from completing their race simulations. Exceptions include Piastri — though his lap times suggest he wasn’t carrying full fuel — and Max Verstappen. Data is still available from the first practice session, although that was run on a much dirtier and roughly 7°C warmer track than the one seen in the evening.
In any case, the long-run data suggests slightly more degradation compared to last year, but according to Pirelli, not enough to make a two-stop strategy competitive. Nearly all teams are keeping both sets of hard tyres in reserve, with the exception of Williams and Haas — unless they use one set in Saturday’s final practice to assess wear. Overall, it’s shaping up to be a Grand Prix where overtaking will be extremely difficult, pushing teams to focus their setup work on maximum qualifying performance.
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