F1 Russian GP Live Updates - final practice and qualifying
Live Text
Sort by
Verstappen is the only man yet to set a time - he now emerges from the pits for the first time in the Red Bull as team-mate Albon goes P11.
Radio Comms
"Ahhhhh, there's nothing I can do with that car boys, nothing I can do," groans Grosjean to his Haas engineers.
Hamilton has got another set of softs fitted to his Mercedes and rallies to second, but still two tenths behind his team-mate.
Ocon meanwhile goes third on the medium, with Leclerc moving up to fifth for Ferrari - also on the medium.
Stopwatch
Both those times were set on the soft, with Gasly 0.6s behind Bottas - who has improved again to a 1m34.289s.
And we've just had a flurry of cars over the line to reshuffle that order, with the AlphaTauri twins Gasly and Kvyat settling nicely into second and third.
Not your typical top six so far then - with less than 40 minutes to go, here's your order:
6. Perez
5. Magnussen
4. Hamilton
3. Raikkonen
2. Ricciardo
1. Bottas
6. Perez
5. Magnussen
4. Hamilton
3. Raikkonen
2. Ricciardo
1. Bottas
Twitter
Just the 322nd start for Raikkonen this weekend - equalling the record previously held by Rubens Barrichello.
Impressively, Ricciardo's time was set on mediums, as Kimi Raikkonen moves up to third in the Alfa on soft tyres.
Hamilton made a mistake at the same corner as Bottas and ended up straddling the sausage kerb on corner exit, so needed a big lift before getting back on-throttle again. Mistakes from both Mercedes drivers on their opening laps of FP3 then, not often you see that.
Not the best lap from Hamilton, who is 0.7s slower than Bottas in third.
Stopwatch
Ricciardo briefly moves top, but is immediately bumped back to second by Bottas, who manages a 1m35.183s on his second flyer on those soft tyres. Now, what can Hamilton do?
He missed the apex by about a country mile there.
Meanwhile Bottas has aborted his lap after running wide at Turn 7.
Grosjean and Magnussen post their first times of the session - both on mediums - but neither able to get close to Norris.
Hamilton is now out on track, also on softs, as Bottas goes quickest in the first sector.
Looks like soft tyres on the W11 for Bottas - he's intent on stamping his authority on this session early.
Meanwhile several other cars have joined Norris out on track, with Bottas, Ricciardo and the Haas twins among them.
Daniil Kvyat, Russia's home hero (sorry Sergey Sirotkin) is now sitting in his AlphaTauri with helmet on, so expect some excitement from the limited crowd soon.
Stopwatch
Norris, naturally, goes purple in all sectors and moves to the top on a 1m36.423s. Sainz, we note, returned to the pits after his installation lap.
Norris doesn't go into the pits though, and does start the first flying lap of FP3. Given how many corners there are at Sochi, drivers are having to treat the tyres carefully to make sure they're not in pieces by the end of a lap.
Norris is running on the medium tyre, but doesn't look like he's pushing very hard.
Alas, we've now got two McLarens out on track as Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz Jr venture out on track.
Has anybody seen Rat Race, where the casino owner Donald Sinclair - aghast - says that Nick Shafer is leading the chase because he's closest to the door? Well, currently Daniel Ricciardo is still top by virtue of having the lowest number (3).
Twitter
Still, unlike previous grands prix there are at least some fans in the grandstands to give the TV director something else to fill time with than drivers standing around in their garages looking rather bored.
Green flag
The session is now green, not that you'd know by any track action commencing. No sign of any track activity yet.
A rare sighting of Sergey Sirotkin there - in case you'd forgotten (we'll forgive you if you have) that he's Renault's official reserve.
Twitter
Autosport
One of the big questions heading into today concerns Red Bull, with Daniel Ricciardo's Renault ending yesterday's running third behind the runaway Mercedes pair. Speaking to the media yesterday, Max Verstappen admitted it will be "tough" to overcome his former team-mate, having also suffered a spin during his second qualifying simulation. 
Information
The air temperature in Sochi is a warm 26.4 degrees, and track temperature a positively toasty 38.6. Only a 10 per cent chance of rain.
Just under 10 minutes to go until this morning's FP3 session - staring one hour later than FP1 yesterday.
Autosport
Yesterday's timesheets were topped by Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas, continuing his typically strong form on Fridays at the track where he scored his first F1 win in 2017. But as ALEX KALINAUCKAS explains in his Friday feature, it wasn't completely plain-sailing for the Black Arrows, and the huge gap Bottas enjoyed owed much to both cars being on the back-foot after an eventful FP1: 
Good morning and welcome to Autosport's live coverage of Saturday's action from Sochi, as the build-up to tomorrow's Russian Grand Prix intensifies.
By: Jake Boxall-Legge
Published:
Lap:
