Max Verstappen headed the sole Formula 1 practice session at the Qatar Grand Prix over Carlos Sainz, as low-grip conditions and high winds offered a stern challenge throughout.
Verstappen bolted on the soft tyres in the final part of the session to leapfrog long-time session leader Fernando Alonso, setting a 1m27.428s. T he championship leader, who can sew up the title in Saturday's sprint race, then saw off an initial attempt from Charles Leclerc as the Monegasque suffered a snap of steering in his opening sector. Sainz drew close with a 1m27.762s, but this was only good enough for second overall as Leclerc popped up into third on a second run with the soft tyres.
He beat McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who had fired their way to the top on the medium tyres just after the half-way mark before the later runners eclipsed them on better circuit conditions. Williams pair Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon were 11th and 12th respectively after grabbing fast times on soft tyres, while Lewis Hamilton backed out of a hot lap after getting too far over the kerbs.
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