1812 km of Qatar – EL1: Ferrari ahead of Cadillac, problem at Aston Martin

• Four days after the end of the Prologue, the 1812 km of Qatar began this Wednesday with Free Practice 1. A session lasting one hour and thirty minutes dominated by James Calado, author of a time of 1:42.123 at the wheel of the Ferrari n ° 51.
• The Briton beat Sébastien Bourdais (Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA n°38) by 0.232 seconds and Miguel Molina on the other Ferrari, the n°50, by 0.274 seconds.
• Brendon Hartley placed the first Toyota, the #8, just off the podium in 1:42.466. Dries Vanthoor completed the top 5 with the #8 BMW M Hybrid V15, 0.359 seconds off the best time.
• The first Porsche 963 finished only seventh, with the No. 6 car setting the fastest lap time of 1:42.681 by Frenchman Kevin Estre.
• French manufacturers have signed a joint venture with theAlpine No. 35 in 10th place, ahead of the Peugeot No. 93 andAlpine #36, the latter being the first Hypercar more than a second behind the leading Ferrari. The #94 Peugeot finished in 16th place.
• THEAston Martin Valkyrie #009 had a problem during this session when it stopped at the exit of turn #1, causing a red flag. The English prototype did not start again after this mishap. The British manufacturer does not yet know the reason.
• In GT3, Akkodis ASP confirmed the good form seen during the Prologue. Ben Barnicoat was indeed the fastest in the category in 1:55.623 at the wheel of the Lexus RC F n°78. The Briton beat the two Corvettes.
• The Mercedes- Iron Lynx's AMG GT3s did not take to the track during this session due to a problem with the refueling system detected on Tuesday. Both cars should be able to run during Free Practice 2.
• Free Practice 2 will start at 14:50 p.m. French time.

Ranking – Free Practice 1 – 1812 km of Qatar: