The first free practice session for the Qatar Grand Prix is over, officially kicking off the final weekend of the triple-header. Max Verstappen ended the practice session as the fastest, trailing the rest of the field by almost half a second.

About ten minutes into the session most drivers were out on track. Verstappen was the first to set a fast lap with a time of 1:26.829, but that time was not yet representative of the rest of the practice.

Lewis Hamilton soon complained about a lack of power, and asked on the radio if Mercedes had lost speed on the straight. According to his engineer that was not the case. Later on he was called in for a problem with his car, but that had to do with his front wing.

In the meantime there was a lot of swapping around for the fastest time, but at the end of the practice it was Verstappen who was more than four tenths of a second behind the rest of the field.