Hamilton holds early advantage

IT was first blood to Lewis Hamilton as the potentially title-deciding Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend began yesterday.

Max Verstappen set an ominous pace early in the first practice session on the brand new Jeddah Corniche circuit.

But as the hour wore on the Mercedes of Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas gradually edged closer to Verstappen’s best lap time, with Hamilton eventually pipping the Red Bull driver by 0.056 seconds.

Bottas wound up third, twotenths behind but Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez struggled to adapt to the 27-corner circuit, ending the session 11th over a second off the pace.

It’s hard to know how representative the form will be. It was the only session all weekend that will be run in daylight, while the virgin surface is likely to evolve over the weekend, and last night’s second practice may have provided better clues.

Hamilton has an ace up his sleeve, though, in the form of the “spicy” engine which powered him to that spectacular victory in Brazil.

That particular motor was not in the car in Qatar last time, and will likely be fitted before practice three today.

Pierre Gasly showed up well in fourth, but the Frenchman will be worried after a dismal showing in the race in Qatar.

After starting second on the grid, the AlphaTauri dropped out of the top ten by the finish.

Prior to second practice, Hamilton was a 1-2 chance for a race victory that would see the championship heading for a final-round decider in Abu Dhabi next week.