Veteran Fernando Alonso set the fastest time of the day in Formula 1 training for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The 42-year-old Spaniard was 0.230 seconds ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell from Great Britain in the Aston Martin in Jeddah. World champion Max Verstappen was content with third place in the faster second training session at Red Bull after leaving the entire competition behind him in the first practice session.
The Dutchman won the opening race in Bahrain the previous week by a large margin. Verstappen is also the favorite for the Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia on Saturday (6 p.m./Sky). The race will take place on Saturday because the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan begins on Sunday.
Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez finished fifth in training behind Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. Nico Hülkenberg didn’t get past 18th place in the inferior Haas racing car.
