Norris Tops Friday Practice for 2025 Saudi Arabian GP

McLaren’s Lando Norris topped Friday Practice for 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah. 

Norris finished second in FP1 to Alpine’s Pierre Gasly but rebounded to top FP2 from his teammate, Oscar Piastri in a generally clean day of running for many drivers.

 

FP1

Norris was straight out on track and quickly set 1m 31.887 on medium tyres as the initial benchmark time, which was soon bettered by Max Verstappen then Piastri, as the Aussie went quickest with 1m 31.548 in the sixth minute.

Norris responded on his next flier with 1m 30.454 three minutes later, but Mercedes’ George Russell went 0.029 seconds quicker than his British compatriot, as they traded fastest laps which Russell won out with 1m 29.674 as the opening stints concluded.

Attention soon turned to the soft tyre and only Norris was initially able to better Russell’s medium-tyre effort as he posted 1m 29.246 just past the half-hour mark, but Alpine’s Gasly surprised with 1m 29.239 with 22 minutes left to finish fastest from Norris by 0.007s at the checkered flag.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1m 29.239
2	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 0.007
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.070
4	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 0.102
5	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 0.367
6	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.379
7	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+ 0.540
8	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+ 0.576
9	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 0.579
10	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull	+ 0.582
11	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+ 0.668
12	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	+ 0.677
13	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+ 0.695
14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 0.737
15	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	+ 0.772
16	Jack Doohan	Alpine	+ 0.944
17	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 1.344
18	Oliver Bearman	Haas	+ 1.356
19	Esteban Ocon	Haas	+ 1.790
20	Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber	+ 1.799

 

FP2

Ocon was first to hit the track and set 1m 31.681 as the initial benchmark on medium tyres but Bearman, Doohan and Piastri soon toppled his time as did several drivers, whilst Norris posted 1m 29.272 to set the pace once everyone posted a flying lap – although Albon was the sole driver on hard tyres.

Piastri managed to get within 0.001s of Norris in the 13th minute before he went 0.132s quicker on his next flier but Leclerc ultimately topped the opening stint with 1m 29.002 in the 18th minute.

Lawson was the first driver to attempt a soft-tyre qualifying simulation which put him fifth fastest whilst Russell was the first driver to beat Leclerc’s lap time as he set 1m 28.973 in the 24th minute which Sainz then bettered by 0.031s moments later.

Verstappen in the 27th minute lowered the benchmark to 1m 28.547 but Piastri went 0.117s quicker on the half-hour mark with 1m 28.430.

Norris however produced 1m 28.340 with 27 minutes left to top the session from Piastri in a McLaren one-two, although race simulations were ended with eight minutes left on the clock after Tsunoda clipped the inside wall at the final corner to send himself into the barriers.

Bortoleto sat out the session after Sauber found a fuel leak during the gap after FP1 which necessitated a chassis change.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1m 28.340
2	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 0.090
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 0.207
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.482
5	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+ 0.675
6	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull	+ 0.696
7	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.706
8	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 0.839
9	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	+ 0.926
10	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 0.953
11	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+ 0.975
12	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	+ 1.039
13	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+ 1.104
14	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+ 1.221
15	Fernando Alonso	Aston Marti	+ 1.395
16	Oliver Bearman	Haas	+ 1.487
17	Jack Doohan	Alpine	+ 1.645
18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 1.740
19	Esteban Ocon	Haas	+ 1.752
20	Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber	No Time