Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team took to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the first time ahead of the 2022 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.
Nico Hülkenberg has again joined Lance Stroll in the garage this weekend as Sebastian Vettel continues his absence due to COVID-19.
Friday running also offered the opportunity for drivers and teams to understand the minor track changes to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, most notably a widened Turn 27.
Lance
The first practice session in Jeddah, like Sakhir, was unrepresentative of the qualifying and race conditions later in the weekend.
But an hour of track time is always valuable, and Lance and the team worked on further optimising the AMR22 as teams look to advance their knowledge of the new regulations.
Lance began practice on a set of Hard compound tyres for his first stint before the first and only red flag of the day, caused by on-track debris.
After a near-10-minute delay, Lance returned to the track on the Soft tyre, beginning a series of ever-quicker laps.
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He eventually ended his time on the softest compound with a best lap time of 1.32.582, which held until the end of FP1.
In FP2, Lance and the team looked to improve the balance of the AMR22 in more relevant conditions.
The Medium tyre is a good compound for such work, and Lance began his first stint on the mid-range compound.
On either side of his work on the Medium tyre, Lance completed another Soft tyre run and posted his best lap time of 1.32.582.
"We completed plenty of laps today, tried some new things, and continue to learn how to optimise this car," said Lance.
"FP1 is not very representative here [being run in the daytime], but it is all useful data for the coming races.
"Every lap is helpful at this time of year. We continued to work on the balance of the car in FP2 and did all the usual evaluation of the tyre compounds.
"We will crunch the info tonight to see where we can find more performance ahead of qualy."
Nico
Picking up where he left off in Bahrain, Nico continued to prioritise his familiarisation with the AMR22 and completed a productive programme across both sessions at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
While Lance began on the Hard tyre, Nico's early stint was spent on the Medium compound as he put together a series of improving lap times.
Nico spent most of the session on the compound, with its consistency and durability further helping the German explore a circuit brand new to him.
A mid-session run on the Soft tyres would then provide his best lap time of 1.33.034.
For FP2, Nico began the session on the Hard compound tyre as the team increased its understanding of all three compounds early in the weekend.
Ahead of a late Virtual Safety Car caused by the Haas of Kevin Magnussen stopping, Nico used his Soft tyre run to set his quickest lap of 1.31.615.
More importantly, Nico was able to complete over 50 laps ahead of tomorrow's FP3 and qualifying sessions.
"I think it was a productive first day back in the car," said Nico.
"It is a new circuit for me to learn, which always provides its own challenges, but it was an exciting experience out there.
"It is a very high-speed circuit and an intense lap, more so than it can appear on TV.
"The team completed its programme, we made good use of the laps, and I feel I learned as much as I could out on track."
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