F1 Sakhir GP Live Updates - final practice and qualifying
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One minute to go before Q1 begins. Are we ready to rumble?
It has to be said though, Russell on the podium this weekend certainly wouldn't be as surprising as the podium on that day - when Senna and Prost famously crashed at the first corner, Berger lasted only one more lap before crashing himself and the only other 'Class A' runner - Nigel Mansell's Ferrari - also retired with mechanical trouble. Aguri Suzuki (Larrousse) is the man on the right, with Benetton twins Nelson Piquet and Moreno.
We don't know if Russell called Roberto Moreno for advice, but the legendary Brazilian supersub knows a thing or too about leaping from very mediocre equipment into a front-runner. Admittedly, the Eurobrun he was driving in 1990 was a far worse proposition than the 2020 Williams, and the 1990 Benetton certainly wasn't a match for that year's McLaren, but his podium in the Japanese GP remains one of F1's best 'rags to riches' tales. Can Russell write a new chapter this weekend?
On then to Russell, who stole all the headlines yesterday by topping both free practice sessions. What to expect from him in qualifying is difficult to call, but barring disaster, he's likely to record his best-ever grid position, bettering 11th position he started from for the Styrian GP.
The risk of rain for the session is 0% according to the timing screens. We'd say obviously, but it did rain ahead of the Bahrain GP last week, so never say never...
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Aitken has had an especially difficult season in F2 this year, by his own admission. As he told LUKE SMITH in a recent interview, that was largely down to the departure of his Campos race engineer before the season, which meant 2020 quickly turned into a 'suck it and see' sort-of-year. If you didn't get around to reading it on Thursday, here's Aitken's own assessment on the year: 
Fittipaldi is, of course, one of two F1 debutantes on the grid this weekend, along with Williams driver Jack Aitken. The Brit was team-mates with George Russell in GP3 and F2 - how ironic that his maiden appearance should come as a replacement for Russell, who is of course filling in for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes as the seven-time champion recovers from a bout of COVID.
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So, aside from the fact that Wycombe Wanderers are currently beating Preston North End, what's going on? One unfolding development this evening is Pietro Fittipaldi has had to take new power unit components, so will make his Grand Prix debut from the back of the grid. 
Air temperature is 23.9, and track temperature is 27.1 - around the sort of range that you might say 'it's just a shade warm here'.
With so few corners on the Bahrain 'outer loop' circuit and so much of the lap made up of straights, the importance of the tow could be greater here than at any other circuit on the F1 calendar. Could we be in store for a shock exit in Q1?
Welcome back one and all to Autosport's live coverage from the Sakhir GP. We've a little over 20 minutes before Q1 gets underway, and it's shaping up to be a barnstormer after Max Verstappen upset the form book by topping FP3 earlier on.
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Time for a quick breather before what is expected to be the most frantic qualifying of the season. Q1 gets underway at 5:00pm GMT (8:00pm local time). We'll see you shortly before the fun begins.
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So, it is Verstappen who ends the Russell domination with Bottas in second place, while Gasly, Ocon and Norris impress. Albon slotted into sixth place ahead of good friend Russell.
Checkered flag
At the same time as the chequered flag coming out, Leclerc spins exiting the final corner, but is able to avoid the wall and any further consequences.
That looks to be that in terms headline-grabbing times in FP3 with plenty of practice starts and laps on wore softs being completed. Just 0.7s splits Verstappen in P1 to Vettel in P15.
Ricciardo's team-mate Ocon, meanwhile, has jumped up to fourth place with a 54.453s. Five different teams occupy the top five spots in FP3 in an order of: Red Bull, Mercedes, AlphaTauri, Renault, McLaren. Tasty.
Ricciardo runs wide coming out of Turn 5 and skates his Renault over the kerb. That'll do no good to his car floor.
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Ferrari is making a precautionary engine change for Vettel ahead of qualifying. The mechanics are already busy at work but with a little over two hours until the start of Q1 it will be a race against time to be ready.
Stopwatch
Verstappen goes top of the tree with a 54.064s, while Gasly slots into third place for AlphaTauri.
Stopwatch
Norris goes second fastest with a 54.606s and splits the Mercedes pair while Giovinazzi is fourth for Alfa Romeo. Qualifying is going to be truly unpredictable later.
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Stopwatch
In response Russell puts in a 54.664s to go 0.394s off his Mercedes team-mate. Behind those two Leclerc slots into third place with a 54.854s.
Stopwatch
Bottas puts in a 54.270s to go quicker but goes really wide at the final corner, asking for the power slightly early, so lost a chunk of time there.
Here come the Mercedes pair both on a fresh set of softs. Quick laps incoming.
Stopwatch
Vettel, on a qualifying simulation, jumps up to second place with a 54.858s. After a tricky Friday with a couple of spins for Vettel, his Ferrari looked much more stable on that lap.
Impressive pace from both AlphaTauri drivers once again. Gasly is P4 and Kvyat is P5 currently after those opening runs - they will be the dark horses aiming to surprise in qualifying.
Stopwatch
An eye-catching lap from Bottas, 54.523s, on worn softs sees the Finn stretch his advantage at the top of the times to 0.477s. That's a serious gap on this track.
A few drivers being pinged for track limits at Turn 8 again - a feature from FP2 when track limits were enforced. Stroll, Albon and Ocon have lost laps so far.
Stopwatch
Russell goes fastest for a short moment with a 55.000s, only to lose top spot to Bottas who puts in a 54.880s.
Yellow flag
Verstappen spins off in the change of direction between Turns 1 and 2. He avoids tapping the wall but his hard tyres won't be in a great shape after that.
Stopwatch
Bottas goes fastest with a 55.010s, to edge clear of Verstappen's 55.194s. It is no surprise but just 1.2s splits the entire field so far, which means qualifying will be mighty close for everyone.
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Stopwatch
Plenty of F1 cars on track now and that means plenty of lap times given the short and sharp nature of this track layout. Leclerc currently top with a 55.253s.
Ricciardo quickly beats Norris to go top with a 55.311s. For that Sainz reference earlier, think race number and a famous rally sponsor and put the two together.
Stopwatch
Norris, on the softs, puts in a 55.555s to go top. That's a time which has some serious Sainz vibes.
Wait, hold back that small talk for your next video meeting, as Norris, Magnussen and Vettel head out for the first time today. Thank goodness.
Fittipaldi now pits to leave the track empty, so time to talk amongst ourselves. Any plans for Christmas?
Still only Fittipaldi that fancies it so far in the session but the rest of the grid is ready and waiting in the garages in classic FP3 style. So fully expect a stampede to the pitlane exit in the next 10 minutes.
Not to wish the season away, but this time next week we will have just found out who is starting on pole position for the Abu Dhabi GP. Considering how bonkers this year has been, hard to believe the season concludes next weekend.
By: Jake Boxall-Legge
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