Gasly leads Norris in practice for Saudi Arabia Grand Prix

In an unexpected twist, Alpine's Pierre Gasly set the pace ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris in first practice at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix held in Jeddah on Friday.

Gasly completed his run on soft tyres much later than the usual front runners, benefitting from more track grip, as he pipped Norris by 0.007 seconds.

Norris, leading the championship from team-mate Oscar Piastri by three points after four races, was 0.063 seconds quicker than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. Piastri was fourth, 0.095 seconds off Norris, ahead of Williams' Alex Albon and Mercedes' George Russell.

The second Williams of Carlos Sainz, Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, and Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10.

Verstappen's struggles with getting a satisfactory balance out of the Red Bull continued as he complained of understeer in the early part of the session, and then said the car was "very loose", especially in high speeds, in the closing stages.

There were no major incidents, although Piastri was one of several drivers to lightly brush the wall around the high-speed, high-risk Jeddah street circuit, and Norris one of a number to lock up at either the first or last corners as they got to grips with the dusty track in the early stages of the weekend.

Gasly's pace is not an indication that Alpine will be competing at the front to win this weekend.

Practice sessions are unreliable indicators of form because fuel loads and car specifications are not revealed by the teams and can have a significant impact on lap time.

Qualifying will take place on Saturday with the main race set to go on Sunday as the Formula One season enters week five following the first four which were held in Melbourne, China, Japan and Bahrain.