REPORT: Productive Friday in Jeddah

Atlassian Williams Racing enjoyed a productive opening day at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz showcasing competitive pace across Friday's Practice sessions at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

The team began the weekend strongly in the afternoon session, with both drivers running inside the top 10. Alex Albon led our pace in FP1, recording a 1:29.606 to slot into P5, while Carlos Sainz was close behind with a 1:29.779, placing him P7.

As the sun set and the floodlights illuminated the circuit, the evening session provided more representative conditions for both Qualifying and Race simulations. Carlos Sainz headlined our efforts with a lap of 1:28.942, placing him P5, while Alex Albon posted a 1:29.220 to secure P10.

Both drivers completed long-run simulations, and between them totalled 96 laps of this 27-turn venue across the two sessions — putting us in good stead heading into the rest of the weekend.

"A positive first day for us here in Jeddah," Carlos shared. "We’ve made some good steps forward from FP1 to FP2, trying some different things with the set-up and my driving style to try to extract more from the car.

"The lap on the Soft tyre was proof of those steps and, although it’s only Friday, the feeling around this tricky track was positive overall. Let’s see if we can keep it up tomorrow!"

Alex wrapped our reaction by adding: "It’s a lot of fun to drive around this track with so many high-speed sections. It’s going to be very close in Qualifying, so there’s some fine-tuning to be done ahead of the session.

"Tyres are always a talking point here, especially when the track cools off throughout the session. We’re usually good at getting the tyres in the right window, so let’s see how tomorrow’s session goes."