Does Perez stand a chance of victory in Saudi Arabia? 'Don't forget...'

Red Bull Racing won the first race of the new Formula 1 season in Bahrain and will try to follow that up in Saudi Arabia this weekend. Max Verstappen finished on top in the first free practice and finished behind Fernando Alonso and George Russell during the second. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko sees Alonso as the main competitor in qualifying.

Alonso was fastest in FP2. He was more than two-tenths quicker than Russell and three-tenths quicker than Verstappen. Marko reveals to Motorsport-Magazin.com that he sees Alonso as Red Bull's biggest rival for qualifying.

The Austrian does count on a lead of two to three-tenths in the race. Last year, Sergio Perez won the Grand Prix on behalf of Red Bull, when he also got to start from pole position. Can Perez pose a threat to Verstappen in Jeddah? Marko puts things in perspective: "You have to remember that Max was suffering from flu last year. He had no strength."

Analysis of the long runs after the second free practice session already indicated that Red Bull don't need to worry. Verstappen and Perez, along with Russell, were the most consistent of the entire grid. The reigning world champion recorded a long run with an average of 1:34.0. Charles Leclerc sat at 1:34.5 and Lando Norris at 1:34.5.