F1 title fight is increasingly focused on McLaren but Verstappen still hopeful

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain gets a pit stop during the first free practice ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Ahead of Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, this Formula 1 season is looking like McLaren vs. McLaren. Still, defending champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull says he hasn’t lost hope.

McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are the only ones to consistently have the pace through the first four rounds of the championship.

Norris has a three-point lead but admits he isn’t at his best — though he had the fastest time of the day in practice on Friday — while Piastri has momentum after winning in Bahrain last week.

Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes have all had their moments but none has been a consistent challenger, as McLaren’s 58-point constructors’ championship lead shows.

Friday practice

Norris went fastest in the second practice session, while Yuki Tsunoda crashed to continue his difficult start with Red Bull.

Norris was .163 seconds faster than Piastri in the second session, which was run under floodlights and more representative of race conditions than the hotter daytime session. Verstappen complained earlier in the day of his car feeling “very loose” in high-speed corners but ended Friday third fastest, .280 off Norris.

In his third race weekend with Red Bull since replacing Liam Lawson, Tsunoda clipped the wall on the inside of a corner and slid into the barrier on the other side, requiring a red flag.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was the surprise leader in the first session, just .007 of a second faster than Norris. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was .07 off Gasly in third and Piastri fourth, barely a tenth of a second off the pace. Lewis Hamilton was eighth in the other Ferrari. Verstappen was ninth.

Verstappen’s hope

Verstappen is the only non-McLaren driver to win a grand prix this season, but in Bahrain he was struggling so much that Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko said he was concerned the Dutch star might reconsider his future.

Verstappen said this week he wasn’t considering the championship picture this early in the season.

“I’m not thinking about that. I just go race by race,” he said. “At the moment we are not the quickest. So then naturally it’s very tough to fight for a championship, but it’s still a very long road ... I’m hopeful that we can still improve things.”

Two-time champion Fernando Alonso dampened speculation Verstappen could seek to join his Aston Martin team after Red Bull car designer Adrian Newey made that move last year.

Asked if he’d welcome being Verstappen’s teammate, Alonso said Thursday: “Yes, but it’s unlikely to happen. Very unlikely.”

Alonso’s current teammate is Lance Stroll, son of team owner Lawrence Stroll.

Busy schedule

Jeddah hosts the fifth race in six weeks in a hectic start to the season, which stays at a record 24 races. There’s a little respite after Saudi Arabia, with two weeks till the next event in Miami.

“It’s on the upper end of the limit. It feels like race 10 already,” said Williams driver Alex Albon, adding it’s especially tough on mechanics and other crew members.

“As drivers, we travel better than everyone else in the paddock. We stay in better hotels than everyone else in the paddock — it’s just a function of being in a privileged position. With mechanics ... these are people with families. These are the people that really struggle.”

The rookies are still enjoying their first taste of F1, though.

“It’s just the beginning of my career, so I just want to keep racing and keep driving,” Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto said. “I’m learning new things every single weekend, so for me, if I could have another race next weekend, I would be very happy as well.”

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James Ellingworth, The Associated Press