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F1 Australian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 & Qualifying
Saturday's action from the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park
Over two years on from the cancelled Australian GP due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, F1 returns to a revamped Albert Park.
The key track changes see sections of the circuit widened, the Turn 9-10 chicane taken out to increase speeds in a flowing back section and the entire layout has been resurfaced. All changes have been made in the hope of increasing overtaking opportunities and creating more exciting races.
Sebastian Vettel is back for Aston Martin after missing the opening two races having tested positive for COVID-19 and had an eventful Friday after suffering an engine failure in FP1 which ruled him out of second practice, while he also picked up a €5000 fine for riding a scooter on-track back to the pits after FP1.
F1 world championship leader Charles Leclerc topped Friday practice for Ferrari from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, after Carlos Sainz Jr was fastest in FP1.
Final practice for the Australian GP gets underway at 4am BST (1pm local time), followed by qualifying at 7am BST (4pm local time).
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It's now Alonso that's quickest, doing a 1m20.119s in his Alpine.
Replays have just shown Perez getting very close to the barriers at the final corner but the Mexican got away with that one.
Stopwatch
But, as soon as we type that, there's further improvements as it's now Sainz heading Ricciardo at the top of the timesheets
Stopwatch
The benchmark is being continually lowered now as Perez drops it to 1m20.436s as Bottas's Alfa goes second.
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Leclerc now shoots to the top of the timesheets on the soft tyres, setting a 1m20.689s.
Now we're 15 minutes into the session, several more drivers are venturing out and Russell has become the fourth to post a time - albeit 10s slower than the Red Bulls. The Mercedes may have got off to a slow start this year, but not that slow!
On that note, Tsunoda is only just getting into his AlphaTauri! Clearly the Japanese is in no rush today
Leclerc, Sainz and Russell are now the latest to experience the overcast conditions at Albert Park but six drivers are still yet to head out in this session.
Stopwatch
Perez now goes fractionally faster than Norris's opening benchmark with a 1m21.024s on the mediums, a tenth quicker than what Verstappen manages.
We've now got a flood of other drivers heading out on track, including Vettel - who had so little running on Friday. Both Red Bulls have also headed out
Breaking news
Here's the full story on that tweak to the DRS zones for today: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/fia-removes-one-drs-zone-at-albert-park-on-safety-grounds/9735930/
Stopwatch
We do now have a time on the board and it's Norris who has set a 1m21.247s, so still several seconds off yesterday's pace.
The McLarens have now headed out on track, but so far no-one has yet posted a time.
In this slow start to the session, one of the other talking points before action got underway was underwear. Yep, you read that right. The FIA is planning a clampdown on what drivers wear underneath their overalls: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/fia-set-for-clampdown-on-f1-driver-underwear/9735344/
But, despite the lack of running at this venue in recent years, there's hardly a flurry of activity at the beginning of this one-hour session. Still just those five cars have headed out so far
They're now joined on track by Albon's Williams and the other Haas of Schumacher
We've got three cars straight out onto the track: the two Alfa Romeos and Magnussen's Haas
Green flag
And we're now underway as FP3 begins!
Breaking news
But enough of that, there's some breaking news ahead of FP3, one of the four DRS zones in place for this weekend has been scrapped amid safety concerns. It's the one from the sweeping Turn 8 right all the way up to the Turn 9 fast left kink
Given that less than perfect start to the 2022 season, it's no wonder the German is waiting for an improvement in Aston's fortunes before christening his latest challenger with its name. Perhaps it will be Eve Moneypenny (although possibly more suited to team-mate Lance Stroll's machine)? Or, if Aston's struggles continue, perhaps Vettel will wave Goodnight with a Mary? We have a bit longer to wait to find out: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/vettel-will-wait-for-more-pace-before-naming-aston-martin-f1-car/9709356/
One driver unlikely to feature in that lead fight is Sebastian Vettel. It was another difficult day for Aston Martin yesterday as, on his F1 return following a COVID-19 hiatus, Vettel suffered a loss of power in FP1 and had to sit out the entire second session. To compound his misery, he was fined €5000 for commandeering a moped and riding back to the pits on the Albert Park track: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/vettel-fined-for-australian-gp-fp1-scooter-excursion/9716702/
What Friday practice showcased, aside from being an unpleasant reminder to us of just how early in the morning the Australian action is for UK dwellers, is that we've got another enthralling battle on our hands. ALEX KALINAUCKAS has crunched the numbers and looked at the data and believes another thrilling battle between Ferrari and Red Bull could be in store this weekend: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/the-data-that-shows-red-bull-vs-ferrari-in-australia-is-set-for-a-jeddah-repeat/9715469/
Drivers have described the track modifications as "exciting", although some are sceptical about whether overtaking will actually increase as a result of the tweaks: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-drivers-hail-exciting-new-track-layout-despite-overtaking-scepticism/9718609/
But, before qualifying begins in just over three hours from now, we've got one final practice session for the teams and drivers to get used to the reconfigured Albert Park layout.
It's approaching 4am UK time on a Saturday and we're just beginning live updates so that can only mean one thing, it's qualifying day for the Australian GP!
Hello and welcome to Autosport's latest Formula 1 live text commentary.
By: autosport.com
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