F1 Live: 2024 Qatar Grand Prix first practice

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Just Lawson on the track now. McLaren hard at work on Norris’ car.

Hamilton, 13th, complains he’s “got no stability”. With 20 minutes gone Leclerc goes quickest on his hards with a 1’23.702.

A massive improvement from Verstappen now, almost a second faster than anyone else with a 1’23.885.

Pierre Gasly, who was a surprise third on the grid in Las Vegas, narrowly beats Russell’s fastest time by less than a tenth of a second. Lando Norris not far behind in third place.

Russell takes a big chunk off the fastest time with a 1’24.901 on mediums, well over half a second faster than Leclerc.

Charles Leclerc has his hard tyres going well now and goes quickest with a 1’25.486, a tenth up on Verstappen on mediums.

Yuki Tsunoda flies to a 1’25.970 to go fastest by 0.368s. This will be a fascinating weekend to compare him to his team mate, as this is the only track Liam Lawson previously raced at in Formula 1.

There’s a big question mark over how competitive Mercedes will be this weekend after their unexpectedly strong showing in Las Vegas. George Russell puts up a 1’26.756, four tenths of a second off Verstappen, also on mediums. Esteban Ocon then puts his Alpine an encouraging third.

Max Verstappen wastes no time setting a competitive lap with a 1’26.338 on mediums. F1 has raced here with no support events in previous years but Formula 2 and F1 Academy have already been on-track today so it won’t be too dusty.

Most of those who have gone out so far have opted for the medium tyre compound, but the Ferrari drivers are out on hards.

So it’s no surprise we have no one-off practice drivers this weekend – expect to see plenty at the season finale at Yas Marina a week from now though.

First practice for the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix is coming up next. This is the only practice session for this weekend’s race – the drivers get an hour of running and then qualifying for the sprint race will follow.