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Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
F1 Saudi Arabia GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race
Live updates from the Saudi Arabian GP at Jeddah
The Saudi Arabian GP follows on from a dramatic season-opener in Bahrain, where Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari 1-2 from team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr as Red Bull suffered a double retirement when both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez suffered a vacuum issue within its fuel system.
The Saudi Arabian race has already been a dramatic weekend both on and off the track, with a missile attack on a nearby oil facility creating serious talks about the race being boycotted by the drivers on Friday night. After gaining sufficient assurances from the Saudi Arabian security officials, the race weekend has continued with Red Bull’s Perez taking his maiden F1 pole position.
Mick Schumacher will miss the Saudi Arabian GP after a heavy crash in qualifying which has damaged his Haas F1 car. Sebastian Vettel is also missing for Aston Martin due to COVID-19, with Nico Hulkenberg continuing in his role as super-sub.
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No further investigation from the FIA stewards on the Alonso vs Ocon battle.
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"Hold position, hold position," Ocon is told over team radio. The thing is, he can't, as Bottas with the aid of DRS charges ahead at Turn 1 and take seventh place.
Penalty
Zhou has been given a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage from his battle with Albon.
Ocon has another go at Alonso there, but once again finds his way into the Turn 1 run-off as he overdoes it with DRS. The Alpines have cleared Bottas a bit now, but the battle might bring the Alfa driver back into play.
Hamilton gets by Norris at the final corner to take 11th place. He now has a three-second gap to bridge to catch Gasly.
Pit stop
Ricciardo has pitted early, switching his mediums for hards, so cycles to the back of the pack.
Leclerc's been able to extend his gap over Verstappen to 2.1s, as Perez is keeping a stable gap over the Ferrari driver out in front.
The Zhou vs Albon Turn 2 fight has been put under investigation by the FIA stewards.
Magnussen wants to join the fight further forward and tries to go around the outside of Bottas at Turn 1 but overcooks it and clatters over the kerbs at Turn 2 to hand the place back.
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"Still on Plan B, everything's looking good," Sainz is being told. We'll see in due course what the difference between Plans A and B are at Ferrari.
Hamilton, on the hards remember, gets ahead of Stroll to move up to 12th place. The less good news for him is he's already 32s off leader Perez 10 laps into this race.
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"We are going Plan A, and our degradation is better than Red Bull," Leclerc's engineer says over the radio.
The FIA stewards are taking full use of their notepads, as both the Alonso vs Ocon Turn 1 battle and a Zhou vs Albon Turn 2 fight have been noted.
Ocon has a go at returning the favour against Alonso, grabbing DRS but goes far too deep into Turn 1 and takes to the run-off. He'll have to give it back, but with caution as Bottas is lurking behind them.
Both Williams really struggling for pace as Albon drops behind Hulkenberg into 17th place, which means both the Grove team cars are at the back of the pack.
Alonso finally makes the move on Ocon, blasting past with DRS and wrestling against his team-mate for sixth place. Ocon didn't want to give it up, as Alonso took the inside line for Turn 2.
As of lap 7, Perez has 2.4s over Leclerc, who has 1.3s over Verstappen. Sainz has fallen back a little bit now.
Ocon's continuing to defend against Alonso, who's looking much quicker than the leading Alpine. Will a switcheroo be imminent among the pink cars? We'll keep an eye out.
Despite locking up at Turn 1 a lap earlier, Zhou is making good progress through the field and is back up to 15th having got by Albon and Hulkenberg in quick succession.
Crikey! Alonso tries a move on Ocon but the French driver shows his Alpine driver the door into Turn 1 - that nearly came to blows!
Gasly gets back by Norris at the final corner on lap four to reclaim 10th place.
Meanwhile, Russell stuffs his car down the inside of Ocon at Turn 27 and makes the move for fifth! He still has DRS, and keeps ahead into the first corner.
A Turn 4 incident between Norris and Magnussen has been noted by the race stewards.
Stopwatch
Perez is beginning to flex an advantage out in front, setting a 1m34.596s on the third lap to go 0.2s faster than Leclerc. Small margins, but they add up!
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"Same problem again!" Zhou says over team radio, it looks like he went into anti-stall at Turn 1 which is exactly what happened to him in Bahrain on his F1 debut. Zhou is up to 17th now having got back by Latifi.
Perez begins lap 2 with 1.2s over Leclerc, with Verstappen a further second behind. Sainz is not letting go of Verstappen, as the pair has now dropped Ocon and Russell.
Shocker of a start by Zhou who is down in last place after getting boxed in at Turn 1! Further ahead Norris gets ahead of Gasly at Turn 1 on the second lap to move up to 10th.
Magnussen makes the best start of the midfield runners by moving up to ninth place ahead of Gasly in the first few corners.
Perez covers off Leclerc at the start, as Verstappen dispatches Sainz into Turn 1! Sainz hangs on, as Ocon's looking to buy into the battle for third too!
Lights out
Lights off, let's rock - the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is away!
The cars are lining up - are you ready? Then let's begin.
Breaking news
Tyre news: all on mediums, except Magnussen, Hamilton and Hulkenberg, who begin on the hard compound.
Green flag
The F1 grid graphics show Sainz heading for a pitlane start - but that's not correct. The formation lap begins.
Shower thought: why hasn't a yoghurt company ever bought the naming rights to an F1 circuit turn? Think of the advertising potential of Muller Corner...
Not long to go now - hope you're sitting comfortably. Or standing comfortably. We're not going to tell you how to live your lives.
Magnussen struggled with his neck towards the end of qualifying yesterday - it appears to be strapped up as he gets on board his car, so it'll be a difficult day for the Dane.
You'll be pleased to know that there's a 0% risk of rain for this race. Rain in Saudi? Not even cloudy.
Thought we'd magnanimously let that joke hang for a bit - and now, we move on with 15 minutes to go. Just 18 drivers left for the start, the last row populated entirely by drivers called Nic(h)olas.
Gordon Ramsay's in attendance this weekend - it's rumoured he thought he was attending Spa rather than Jeddah, asking "where's the La Source" on his arrival.
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By: autosport.com
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