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Qatar GP
F1 Qatar GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 and Qualifying
All of Saturday's running from the Qatar Grand Prix
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There was a pretty close moment at Turn 16 between Norris and Alonso at the start of the final laps but the McLaren driver slammed on the brakes and steered away from hitting the rear of the Alpine.
Checkered flag
A flurry of late improvements shakes up the order but there are no major surprises out in Q1: P16 Raikkonen, P17 Latifi, P18 Giovinazzi, P19 Schumacher and P20 Mazepin.
...but Leclerc saves himself with that lap to go P10. That pushes Latifi back into the Q1 drop zone.
Leclerc the one under pressure in the drop zone now on his final lap....
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"Lots of traffic," Hamilton says over his team radio. He isn't wrong, as a snake of F1 cars forms around the final corner and this could get messy with the clock counting down.
Latifi improves to go P14 and that drops Stroll into the Q1 relegation zone.
TV replays show Leclerc catching a big slide out of Turn 16 which saw him lose the lap for track limits. Moments later Norris suffered the same fate, but he remains P8.
Stopwatch
Verstappen goes fastest with a 1m21.996s - 0.023s split the top three. That's pretty tight.
And now Perez pops up to a more familiar position in fourth place with just under five minutes of Q1 to go.
Stopwatch
Bottas gets it right on his second push lap to go fastest with a 1m22.016s, just 0.003s quicker than Hamilton. Further back Leclerc has lost his lap for track limits at the final corner and drops to P13.
Alonso pops up to third place behind Hamilton and Verstappen to lead that midfield train with Bottas and Perez currently out of position in the Q1 order. Latifi, Raikkonen, Giovinazzi, Schumacher and Mazepin in the Q1 drop zone.
Gasly, still on mediums compared to the softs for everyone else, goes third fastest. Just waiting for Tsunonda, Schumacher and both Alpines to set a quali lap time now.
Stopwatch
Hamilton goes top with his first timed lap of 1m22.019s, 0.215s ahead of Verstappen, as Bottas slots into fourth place behind Norris.
Stopwatch
Early times coming in see Sainz top the first efforts with a 1m23.323s, a fraction ahead of team-mate Leclerc. Now the McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull drivers join the fray.
Mazepin's front wing is pointing upwards and dragging along the track surface. That's probably not what he wants.
Gasly is also on the track but he's opted for the medium tyres while the rest are on softs.
Mazepin and Schumacher have plenty of company early in this session, including the Ferraris, Williams, Alfa Romeos and Aston Martins.
As is almost traditional for 2021, the Haas pair take to the track first. It will be vital track time for Mazepin given he missed all of FP2 for a chassis change and effectively all of FP3 with an engine issue.
Lights green
...and here we go for Q1!
Drivers are getting comfortable in their F1 car cockpits as Q1 approaches...
The real point of interest has been the back and forth on rear wings between Mercedes and Red Bull. It is a particularly complicated matter so he's a detailed explainer: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/the-mercedes-rear-wing-marks-behind-red-bulls-suspicions/6799537/
Also worth keeping an eye on Gasly who has been rapid in practice in Qatar: P2 in both FP1 and FP2 and P4 in FP3. Could he act as the surprise package at the front?
In both FP2 and FP3 Mercedes had around a three-tenths of a second advantage on Red Bull over a single lap, but we'll add the usual variables around engine modes, conditions, tyres and so on.
A quick recap on practice if you missed it: Verstappen was the early pacesetter in FP1 before Mercedes battled back led by Bottas who topped both FP2 and FP3.
And, of course, pretty much all teams and drivers are venturing into the unknown at the Losail track on F1's first visit to Qatar this weekend, which adds extra spice to an intriguing session coming up.
There's an expectation due to the Qatar track characteristics - long, sweeping and fast corners - that the race could be tricky for F1 drivers following each other. That puts even more importance on qualifying.
Good afternoon one and all! Who is ready for some more F1 drama? This time it'll be kept on the track, for now at least.
That's all from us for now - we'll be back just before 2pm GMT for Qualifying!
Read our full report from FP3 here: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-qatar-gp-bottas-leads-mercedes-1-2-ahead-of-verstappen-in-fp3/6801986/
Bottas has taken three poles in the last four races - can he make it a fourth this afternoon?
Pierre Gasly finishes the session P4, continuing his great run this weekend so far - he finished P2 in FP1 and FP2
So, at the end of FP3, Bottas led from Hamilton and Verstappen
Checkered flag
And there's the chequered flag!
Red Bull has improved the issue with Verstappen's fluttering rear wing but not totally fixed it - they hope to have it solved by Qualifying later today
Yellow flag
Yellow flag in Sector 1 after a spin from Schumacher
Stopwatch
The two Mercedes continue to trade spots at the top of the timesheet - this time Bottas goes fastest with a 1m22.310s
Stopwatch
Hamilton goes quickest with 10 minutes to go with a 1m22.388s
By: Autosport Staff
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