Live text
Formula 1
Australian GP
F1 Australian GP Live Commentary and Updates – FP3 & Qualifying
Saturday's action from the third round of the 2023 Formula 1 season
Live AppleTV Race Audio
After following Perez to the chequered flag two weeks ago, reigning world champion and Bahrain GP winner Max Verstappen holds a one point lead from his team-mate after snatching a valuable fastest lap point in Jeddah.
All eyes will be on what Red Bull’s rivals can do to halt their charge at Albert Park, a venue the Milton Keynes operation hasn’t tasted victory since Sebastian Vettel’s 2011 triumph.
Verstappen topped Friday's opening practice before Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso headed the field in a rain-affected FP2.
Qualifying takes place on Saturday at 6:00am BST to decide the starting grid for the race on Sunday at 6:00am BST.
Live Standings
presented by
Stopped
Summary
Live Text
Sort by
Off track
Perez has gone off track again! This time at Turn 1, locking up the front right tyre which sends him skating over the gravel. The Mexican avoids any further trouble, but what a nightmare session it has been for him.
Yep, the fans are grabbing their umbrellas and ponchos. This weather will add extra spice to qualifying later.
Rain
A few drivers are reporting light rain so that could wrap up this session's action a little prematurely.
Quote
"Ugh, I cannot believe this session," Perez sighs over team radio. He's had a stinker.
Twitter
Stopwatch
Ocon improves again to go third with a 1m17.938s, ahead of Russell in fourth and Gasly in fifth.
Off track
Another Perez lap, another lock-up and off. This time it strikes at the penultimate corner and he skates on the grass so it undoes all his hard work.
Stopwatch
All the lap times! Alonso goes top for a few seconds only to be replaced by Verstappen who posts a 1m17.565s.
Stopwatch
All of a sudden it is an Alpine 1-2, with Ocon posting a 1m18.005s to beat team-mate Gasly by a tenth.
A strange off for Zhou, who had just completed a lap to move up to fifth, and appeared to misjudge the first corner entirely, going on to the wet grass and spinning.
Yellow flag
Zhou has spun off and tapped the wall at Turn 2! But somehow he's avoided any serious damage and gets going again.
Russell goes third, 0.185s off top spot. But bad news down at McLaren, as Norris is out of the session with a clutch problem.
Quote
"I just don't feel the car... it's all OK with the car? I cannot brake into Turn 1, very loose rear, then a lot of front lock into Turn 3. Very inconsistent in the corner," is Perez's assessment of his Red Bull.
Stopwatch
Hamilton goes second quickest with a 1m18.138s which is a mere 0.011s off Sainz in top spot.
Perez locks up heavily again at Turn 3 to really condemn this set of soft tyres.
The debris that caused the red flag came from de Vries, as his AlphaTauri is missing a large chunk of sidepod bodywork, but it is not part of his new car floor.
Perez isn't having a good day so far. He's locked up at Turn 3 and gone off the track, wrecking his new set of softs in the process.
Lights green
The debris is quickly recovered and the session is already back to green. Off we go again.
Leclerc was the driver who spotted the debris on the entry to Turn 9, but it isn't clear who dropped it in the first place. Anyone want to own up?
The stoppage has been caused by a big chunk of debris which is on the track and needs recovering.
Red flag
Red flag!
The rear bodywork is coming off Perez's Red Bull again in the garage. The Mexican only has five laps to his name in the session while everyone else is already in double figures.
Yellow flag
Magnussen triggers a yellow flag going off at Turn 13, and rejoins right in front of Albon, but thankfully no further trouble follows. The Dane locked up and skidded onto the wet grass.
Twitter
Quote
"Mate, why did you put me in this gap?" Perez asks over team radio. His race engineer Hugh Bird apologises and explains he didn't realise Hulkenberg was on a high fuel run.
Perez has his first fast lap wrecked by Hulkenberg, who holds him up through Turns 9 and 10 and then moves right and left overtaking traffic to get in the Mexican's way.
And here comes Perez, just as we predicted. At the head of the times, Gasly goes third quickest on scrubbed softs, which is a handy lap.
We're still missing Perez from the action, but he's strapped into his Red Bull now so looks ready to go.
Twitter
Stopwatch
Sainz the next leading candidate with a 1m18.127s, beating Alonso by a couple of tenths, and now the majority of the drivers are on track now. So plenty of traffic to contend with.
Stopwatch
Leclerc fractionally goes quicker again, with a 1m18.691s, to push his advantage to 0.050s at the top. Tiny margins.
Stopwatch
F1's new meme lord Alonso slots into fourth with a 1m18.890s - which means two tenths of a second covers the top five right now.
Stopwatch
Leclerc goes top with a 1m18.731s - just 0.010s quicker than Verstappen despite the tyre advantage.
Stopwatch
Hamilton goes fifth with a 1m19.921s while Russell has to back out of his lap as he is baulked by Stroll.
Stroll splits the Ferraris to go third, on softs, with a 1m19.186s. Both Mercedes are pushing on a timed effort for the first time in the session so let's see where they stack up.
On the other side of the Red Bull garage, Perez is stuck in the pits as the mechanics work on the rear of his car. Not ideal to be missing out on this running.
Stopwatch
We are seeing that lap, Verstappen. The Red Bull driver posts a 1m18.741s on the mediums to go 0.320s faster than the Ferraris on the softs.
Stopwatch
Sainz tops the early times, on the softs, with a 1m19.061s - four tenths up on Leclerc on the same tyre compound.
Just the installation laps for the Aston Martins as Ferrari, Haas, Alfa Romeo and Red Bull's Verstappen all begin their first stint in this session.
Stroll leads out the early takers, followed by team-mate Alonso. Meanwhile, the TV images pick out a certain Daniel Ricciardo hopping onto the pitwall on his Red Bull gear.
By: Autosport Staff
Published:
Lap:
