Leclerc leads in Qatar Free Practice 1, with McLaren showing strong pace. The Constructors’ Championship battle intensifies ahead of qualifying.
The F1 Qatar Grand Prix began in Losail with Free Practice, the only session before the Sprint Qualifying in the evening. During this session, teams focused on long runs as well as on the single-lap performance of their cars.
Only two teams are bringing updates this weekend. Alpine F1 has a new front wing, supported by a shortened nose. Meanwhile, Stake F1 also has a revised front wing for the Losail race.
It’s worth noting that Franco Colapinto is using an older suspension specification at Williams following his Las Vegas crash. The Grove team is low on parts at the end of the season and is relying on its stock to avoid losing time on the development of the 2025 season.
After several unremarkable laps, Max Verstappen moved to the top with a time of 1’26″388. Valtteri Bottas was improving on Verstappen’s time but was held up in the final sector. Yuki Tsunoda then moved up to 1’25″970.
Verstappen responded with a new best time of 1’25″612, while Sergio Pérez climbed to third. Carlos Sainz moved up to second, and Charles Leclerc set the fastest time of 1’25″486.
Pierre Gasly confirmed his strong form, placing third. Times continued to improve across the field, with George Russell jumping to the top with a time of 1’24″901.
Esteban Ocon was fifth, just behind Gasly, while Lando Norris set the second-fastest time, just 0.076s behind Russell. Bottas finished his quick lap in fourth.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Ferrari drivers were on hard tyres, as were the Williams drivers. Alex Albon also climbed to sixth on the hard compound. Gasly improved to 1’24″819, putting him at the top of the timing sheets. Verstappen ended the session with a time nearly a second faster, setting a new best of 1’23″885.
Russell closed the gap to under four-tenths, and Norris to under two-tenths. Leclerc eventually beat Verstappen’s time with a 1’23″702. Gasly moved up into the top 3 with an improved lap.
After the halfway point, Sainz managed to move up to second with hard tyres, showing Ferrari’s performance. The Williams drivers were the first to switch to soft tyres towards the end of the session.
Franco Colapinto made a mistake and remained 19th, while Alex Albon climbed to third. Guanyu Zhou moved up to 17th with the same tyres used by the leaders.
Fernando Alonso rose to fourth, ahead of Nico Hülkenberg, with Lance Stroll in third, and Leclerc setting the best time with a 1’22″242. Yuki Tsunoda improved to seventh, while Verstappen improved but didn’t move up in the standings. On soft tyres, Sergio Pérez could only manage 12th.
Piastri and then Norris took second, while Hülkenberg made a mistake by running wide on a curb. Piastri also made a mistake on his fast lap, as did Verstappen.
Leclerc improved to 1’21″953, and Hülkenberg moved up to 11th. Sainz made a slight error but still improved, though he didn’t gain any positions. Tsunoda moved up to fifth.
Bottas set the best second sector and placed sixth. Kevin Magnussen also improved but ended up 16th, ahead of Zhou and Pérez. Piastri made another mistake on his final lap.
Leclerc finished on top, followed by the McLaren drivers Norris and Piastri, and then Sainz. The battle for the Constructors’ Championship is well and truly underway between the two teams! Tsunoda is next, ahead of Bottas in sixth, Stroll, Russell, Albon, and Hamilton, while the Red Bulls are off the pace, with Verstappen 12th and Pérez 18th.
Qatar GP FP1 Results – Losail
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | LEC | FER | 1:21.953 | 30 |
| 02 | NOR | MCL | 1:22.378 | 24 |
| 03 | PIA | MCL | 1:22.425 | 26 |
| 04 | SAI | FER | 1:22.535 | 30 |
| 05 | TSU | RBR | 1:23.045 | 27 |
| 06 | BOT | STK | 1:23.064 | 29 |
| 07 | STR | AMR | 1:23.099 | 24 |
| 08 | RUS | MER | 1:23.160 | 27 |
| 09 | ALB | WIL | 1:23.161 | 29 |
| 10 | HAM | MER | 1:23.188 | 26 |
| 11 | VER | RBR | 1:23.213 | 26 |
| 12 | ALO | AMR | 1:23.227 | 24 |
| 13 | HUL | HAS | 1:23.245 | 27 |
| 14 | LAW | RBR | 1:23.562 | 29 |
| 15 | GAS | ALP | 1:23.620 | 28 |
| 16 | MAG | HAS | 1:23.715 | 27 |
| 17 | ZHO | STK | 1:23.880 | 27 |
| 18 | PER | RBR | 1:24.039 | 26 |
| 19 | COL | WIL | 1:24.200 | 29 |
| 20 | OCO | ALP | 1:24.280 | 21 |
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Qatar FP1: Leclerc Fastest, Constructors’ Title Heats Up Qatar FP1: Leclerc Fastest, Constructors’ Title Heats Up Qatar FP1: Leclerc Fastest, Constructors’ Title Heats Up
