McLaren dominance in free practice in Qatar

The first round of the Qatar Grand Prix, the penultimate round of the Formula 1 World Championship at the Lusail circuit, goes to the McLarens, although a free practice session is not always indicative of how things will go in qualifying and the race.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris set the two best times in the “papaya” cars with the Australian ahead of the Briton by 58 thousandths. Third place for Fernando Alonso, off by 386 thousandths in his Aston Martin fresh from the official announcement of the arrival of F1 car design wizard Adrian Newey.

Fourth was the Williams of Carlos Sainz ahead of the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar, sixth was Max Verstappen in his Red Bull. Eighth and 12th are the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, respectively 744 and 870 thousandths behind Piastri. In contrast, the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell are tenth and fourteenth.

Later there will be sprint qualifying: yes, because Qatar will host the last of the season’s six sprint races, scheduled to start tomorrow at 3 p.m. Italian time. Instead, short-form qualifying will begin at 6:30 p.m. today.