F1 Abu Dhabi GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 & Qualifying
Saturday's action from the 22nd round of the 2023 Formula 1 season.
Live AppleTV Race Audio
A disrupted Friday in Abu Dhabi has left teams with little data ahead of a crucial final qualifying session of the year.
Second practice saw only 23 minutes of action after crashes for Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg, with Charles Leclerc ending the hour fastest. This followed an FP1 session that saw 10 rookie drivers replace regular runners, with both Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton among those watching from the sidelines.
Conditions in FP3 are far from representative of those that will be seen in either qualifying or the grand prix, meaning teams are likely to enter qualifying without complete certainty on set-up directions.
FP3 begins at 10:30am GMT with qualifying following at 2pm GMT.
After the maladies in FP3, Red Bull appears to have recovered its customary position at the top. Verstappen headed Perez by 0.049s in that session, with Tsunoda an encouraging third for AlphaTauri ahead of Albon and Russell.
Hulkenberg meanwhile made amends for losing his opening time and was safely through to Q2 in eighth spot. The Alpine twins meanwhile made it through by the skin of their teeth, Ocon in 14th and Gasly 15th with just over a tenth in hand over Sainz.
Sainz, furious with Gasly, is joined in the drop zone by Magnussen, Bottas, Zhou and Sargeant, who again fell foul of running too wide at Turn 1. Zhou locked up into Turn 6 and shipped time by running wide.
Sainz was down in 18th before improving, but only to 15th. That left him vulnerable, and Perez has punished the Ferrari driver to pull himself out of the drop zone and move up to second. Sainz is out in 16th! He says he's not surprised, blaming traffic.
Now here come the rest of the field, all trickling slowly out of the pitlane exit. Will they be able to pick up the tyre temperature they've lost? No overtaking in the pitlane exit now, remember, after Verstappen's antics yesterday.
Williams going a bit off-piste here by sending its cars out on an empty track. Clearly hoping to avoid traffic shenanigans in the dying minutes when the track will be at its best as it rubbers in more.
The Williams drivers kick off the second runs of Q3. Albon is a high flying fourth, but Sargeant is yet to have a time to his name after his track limits indiscretion.
Hulkenberg and Zhou have also had their first laps stripped for track limits, both at Turn 16. Together with Sargeant, similarly penalised, Gasly and Magnussen are also facing the drop after their first runs.
This has me in mind of the scene from Rat Race, where the casino owner declares that Breckin Meyer's character is winning "because he's closest to the door".
As the incumbent of the only vacancy on the grid next year, Logan Sargeant could do with a good qualifying today having just seen Vesti perform wonders in F2. He was a strong eighth in FP3, and that sort of form in qualifying would be well received by James Vowles.
There will be plenty said in the coming weeks on the prospect of AlphaTauri's new name, but this will also be the last outing for a while for the Alfa Romeo name as the Italian car maker's title sponsorship of the Sauber team ends. It has had a few cracking liveries in recent times, hasn't it?
As we approach 6pm local time, the weather is still on the warm side. Air temperatures of 26.9°C and track temps of 32.5°C will greet the drivers in a little under eight minutes time in this 66% humidity.
Verstappen has annexed pole position at Yas Marina since 2020. On that occasion it was somewhat against the run of play in a Mercedes-dominated campaign - could we see a similar turn of events today with an unexpected polesitter offering a preview of their capabilities for the year ahead?
There is plenty riding on the outcome of this qualifying session, because you have to go back to 2014 for the last time the polesitter didn't win here. The unlucky man that day was Nico Rosberg, who hit mechanical trouble in his title decider with Lewis Hamilton.
Final practice earlier yielded a somewhat surprising result as George Russell headed the way for Mercedes ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The lead Red Bull of Max Verstappen was only sixth, behind Alex Albon's Williams and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. How representative will that be come qualifying?
The dust has not long settled from a superb Formula 2 sprint race in which Mercedes F1 junior Frederik Vesti kept his title hopes alive with a battling victory that will take the championship down to the wire tomorrow with points leader Theo Pourchaire. You can read the full report here.
With that, it is time for a short breather before qualifying. But never fear, we'll be back ahead of the session which is scheduled to start at 2pm GMT. Catch you all on the other side!
So, another mixed up order to what we are used to in practice. Of course we cannot be sure about fuel loads and engine modes, but more would've been expected from Red Bull and Ferrari.
