F1 LIVE practice results as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen begin battle

“We’re still at the point with George and myself and Alex and Charles [where] there’s a lot of compliments and we get along and we chat,” Lando Norris said. “But things always change when you become competitive against each other.

“We’re still in a friendly phase because we never raced each other.

“But if all of sudden we go into next year and in the middle of the championship it’s me and Max and Lewis, I don’t think there will be as much Mr Nice Guy. That’s just the way it works.”

Bernie Ecclestone is adamant that a record eighth world title for Lewis Hamilton will not take him above Michael Schumacher in the eyes of the fans as the greatest F1 driver of all time.

“No, not at all,” Bernie Ecclestone told RTL when discussing whether Lewis Hamilton clinching a record eighth title would take him above Michael Schumacher as the greatest of all time in F1.

“In fact, I’m surprised Lewis didn’t say at the beginning of the year ‘I’m stepping down, I don’t want to win more races or World Championships than Michael’.”

Valtteri Bottas has vowed to remain ‘professional’ and keep his racing clean against Max Verstappen at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as the title race nears a conclusion.

“Every point in this championship is obviously super important and both me and Lewis will try to get every point we can,” explained the Mercedes driver.

“But also, we are racers that have respect and I also think in that situation Max wouldn’t do the calculations and what it would do in the points.

“I don’t think anyone is going to change the way we race.

“We’re going to race as hard and as well and as professionally as we can to get the best result.”

“I was just worried that it became so long that it was… irrelevant,” said Daniel Ricciardo.

“It was hard with travel, Covid, just trying to tee up the times. I thought if it gets too long, we might just forget about it but it seems everyone was pretty excited for it.

“It’s a real thing. Zak [Brown] and Cyril are now stamped for life. It was good because a lot of people I think lost faith that it was ever going to happen but we got there, it was a good time.

“There was definitely some negotiating – design, size and all those things – but actually in the end, pretty happy with the result,” he added.

“It’s different in one sense because we’ve got two incredibly close teams, it’s different because we’re fighting for uncharted territory, no one’s ever won eight titles, team or driver, so that’s quite fresh and new,” said Hamilton, who will leave Saudi Arabia level on points with Verstappen to set up a winner takes all Abu Dhabi finale if he wins with the fastest lap ahead of the Dutchman.

“Then on the other side I’m more relaxed than I’ve ever been. I remember how it was my first championship and even my second and third, the sleepless nights and all those sorts of things.

“Obviously, (I’m) a lot more sure about myself and just applied myself better than ever before. All I can do is prepare the best I can for what’s up ahead of me and I 100% know I have.”

Lewis Hamilton’s surge to a potential record eighth Formula One world title continued at pace as he set the fastest time in first practice for the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver has won the last two races to close within eight points of championship leader Max Verstappen heading into the final two grands prix of the year.

Hamilton led the way off the track on Wednesday, speaking out against human rights issues and the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community in Saudi Arabia, admitting he was not comfortable racing in the country.

But he was certainly at home on the track on Friday, as a time of one minute 29.786 seconds saw him beat Verstappen by just 0.056 seconds, with the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas in third.

Workers were still preparing the new venue into the late hours of Thursday night, with a planned ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the circuit promptly cancelled as final touches were put into place.

The Formula Two practice session also started late due to a minor “operational issue” before the F1 cars hit the Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the first time at 16:30 local time.

With the track untested and both qualifying and Sunday’s race taking place in the evening, this session was more of a feeling-out hour for the drivers.

But nevertheless, Hamilton will be pleased to top the timesheets, with Pierre Gasly fourth fastest for AlphaTauri and the Aston Martin of Antonio Giovinazzi fifth.

Ferrari were sixth and seventh in the form of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, as Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel rounded off the top 10.

So next up is F2 Qualifying at 3.15pm.

Then it’s F1 Practice Two from 5pm.

“There are a couple of bits, it is different in one sense because we have got two incredibly close teams, as a team we are fighting in uncharted territory, no team or driver has won eight titles. It is fresh and new.

“On the other side I am more relaxed than I have ever been. I have been around a long time and I remember how I was for my first championship, even my second and third, the sleepless nights and things.

“I’m more sure about myself, I can’t change anything from the past but all I can do is prepare the best I can for what is ahead of me and I know I can.”