Qatar FP1 summary: Piastri leads Norris, Ferrari off the pace as only practice ends

Qatar FP1 summary: Piastri leads Norris, Ferrari off the pace as only practice ends. Full FP1 results and session summary from the Qatar Grand Prix.

The first free practice session in Qatar has come to an end: here are the full results and the complete summary of the session. Lando Norris set the fastest time, followed closely by Oscar Piastri. Charles Leclerc finished a disappointing eleventh.

The penultimate weekend of the 2025 Formula 1 season has officially begun. In Qatar, teams completed the only free practice session of the event: below is the full breakdown and session overview.

First 30 minutes

Because this is a Sprint weekend, all teams started the session on the hard tyre, prioritizing long-run performance. Tyre behaviour will be a key topic in Qatar, given the demanding conditions.

Max Verstappen immediately began pushing, setting an early benchmark in the low 1:25s. Yuki Tsunoda followed closely, within two tenths. The rest of the field gradually improved their pace.

After fifteen minutes, lap times dropped significantly. George Russell moved to the top of the timesheets with a 1:22.962, which would remain the best time of the entire session.

Max Verstappen complained about traffic and said his steering felt too reactive. Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, reported the opposite problem to the Ferrari pit wall, stating: “I don’t feel anything.” The Monegasque driver had no force feedback and struggled to find a balanced setup.

Final 30 minutes

Teams then shifted to race-run simulations. The two Mercedes drivers showed strong consistency, starting in the mid-1:25s and then stabilizing in the mid-1:24s. Ferrari did a solid job with Lewis Hamilton, who consistently lapped in the high 1:24s. Verstappen, in contrast, continued to complain that the car was “bouncing too much” in an uncontrollable way.

With fifteen minutes to go, teams switched to soft tyres. Fernando Alonso jumped to the top with a 1:21.5, followed by Carlos Sainz just over a tenth behind, and Isack Hadjar with a 1:21.8. The top teams then joined the fight: Lando Norris became the first to dip below the 1:21 mark. Oscar Piastri initially trailed him by nearly four tenths, but then responded by going fastest overall.

Mercedes struggled, ending up eighth and ninth. Leclerc also found it difficult to extract performance, finishing only eleventh.