McLaren Fans Lose The Will To Live After Saudi Arabian FP1

McLaren isn't showing great pace after FP1 of the Audi Arabian Grand Prix.

After an interesting FP1 of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, we're starting to get an idea of where the teams sit on the timesheet of the fast but tricky Jeddah track. But after a disappointing performance from McLaren, fans of the British team are starting to lose the will to live. 

Red Bull and Aston Martin topped the times of FP1 with Max Verstappen bringing in the fastest lap followed closely by Sergio Perez. Fernando Alonso proved yet again that he and his team will have great performance this season as he and his teammate Lance Stroll sit third and fourth. 

Mercedes' George Russell and Lewis Hamilton make fifth and sixth respectively. 

There were lots of disappointed fans after FP1 however, with Ferrari making their struggles very visible with them not only replacing both power units on their cars, but also putting in pretty poor times in comparison to the rest of the top 5. Carlos Sainz came 7th, with Charles Leclerc out of the top ten in eleventh place. They will likely show much more performance in the coming practice sessions later today and tomorrow.

McLaren is falling to the floor, however, with Oscar Piastri coming fourteenth on the timesheet and Lando Norris coming dead last. 

How are you McLaren fans doing? Was this as painful for you as it was for me?#f1 #f12023 https://t.co/iV0kIqPpcv

— F1FAll (@F1fAllOfficial) March 17, 2023

On a Twitter post from the team, fans were quick to spell out their disappointment. 

pic.twitter.com/fjTUEp1Lt7

— Slava🌱 (@SlavaKhovrov) March 17, 2023

Here's Slava posting what we're all thinking.

“It’s only FP1 it’s only FP1” pic.twitter.com/8vEPg7Q6G9

— Angi ⁴ ✨• DutchGp 🇳🇱 (@angelique020x) March 17, 2023

There's plenty of time left for McLaren to improve... right?

Another fan posts: "It’s the second race weekend and I already give up on this season. Hideous scenes."

Another poster feels for the social media team: "Truly I feel for the poor social media person at McLaren right now. It's hard to deliver an upbeat message when everyone is so frustrated"."

"Crying in the bathroom," some simply commented.

Yeah, it's going to be a hard weekend for McLaren fans I feel, but it's early days yet. Maybe they'll find more performance later this weekend.