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Saudi Arabian GP
F1 Saudi Arabia GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 & Qualifying
FP3 and qualifying updates from the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit
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The air temperature at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is currently 23.7 degrees C, and dropping as night has fallen.
Let's return our focus elsewhere in the West Country, for the F1 qualifying in Cheddar...sorry, Jeddah. We wondered why they weren't going to race around the Gorge...
As I post that, it's full-time at Huish Park. Reuben Reid and Tom Knowles the scorers - let's goooooo.
In more important news, we're also keeping an eye on the Yeovil score as they close out the game against Southend. 2-0 to the Glovers at the moment, let's see how we throw this one away...
What can we expect coming into quali? The cars with the Mercedes engines - whisper it - are struggling around here. Hamilton was the highest in FP3 in P11 - the rest occupied the bottom few places.
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Of course, the events on-track have taken a back seat to those off it - with drivers still concerned about racing despite those running the teams being on board:
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Charles Leclerc was fastest in all three practice sessions this weekend - but Red Bull, as ever, looks quick too. It'll once again be a big battle for pole - if they keep it out of the wall.
Hello again everyone - it's almost that time again! Qualifying will begin in 20 minutes, so pull up a stool and prepare yourselves...
As the clock ticks down towards qualifying, we'll be taking a short break now - but we'll be back to bring you all the build up prior to the start of Q3 at 17:00 GMT. Thanks for following along with us so far.
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If you missed any of that frantic FP3 session topped by Charles Leclerc, here's the full report from Matt Kew: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-saudi-arabian-gp-leclerc-leads-red-bulls-in-fp3/9341528/
Gasly's car is being hastily repaired by AlphaTauri, says Adam Cooper, ahead of qualifying at 17:00 GMT.
The woes of Mercedes' engine customers here will naturally be a topic of discussion, but the large gap between Latifi and Albon will be something Williams seeks to address - once it has remedied any damage from the Canadian's wall prang exiting Turn 2. In F1, 1.6 seconds is an enormous gulf.
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Ocon then was second in the best-of-the-rest pack behind fifth-place man Bottas, who memorably pipped him to third place exiting the final corner in last year's ill-tempered race. But while Alfa's lead driver showed well, his rookie team-mate Zhou was the slowest non-Mercedes runner in 13th spot.
Another driver to improve late on was Ocon, the Alpine driver claimed sixth right at the end with a 1m30.139s to move above Gasly - who had to sit out the end of the session due to the driveshaft problem that caused him to abandon ship at the end of the pitlane.
As we saw, Verstappen had a few lairy moments that caused him to abort laps - with the margins so fine between Red Bull and Ferrari currently, could mistakes by the drivers prove critical in deciding the Q3 order? That is something Verstappen knows all too well from last year's final corner prang...
It's a 1m29.735s for Leclerc, who edges Verstappen's earlier benchmark of 1m29.768s to snatch the top spot and preserve his record of topping every session this weekend.
Checkered flag
The checkered flag is now out in Jeddah, bringing an end to FP3. And Leclerc snatches P1 at the flag!
It should be remarked that not only is there no Mercedes in the top 10, there are no Mercedes engine customers at the sharp end of the grid either. Hamilton (11th) and Russell (14th) lead the way, with Stroll, Ricciardo, Albon, Hulkenberg, Norris and Latifi bringing up the rear.
Now into fourth place goes Sainz on a 1m30.009s, meaning Red Bull and Ferrari now lock out the top four. Bottas, Gasly, Magnussen and Alonso head the best of the rest, with the quickest Mercedes only 11th fastest in Hamilton's hands.
Magnussen meanwhile pops up into sixth and knocks Alonso back a spot with a 1m30.262s. The Haas driver's Bahrain form appears to be no fluke...
While there's been no further improvement from Verstappen, Perez has waded into second place on a 1m29.833s, and is joined in the sub 90s club by Leclerc on a 1m29.879s.
Meanwhile, Verstappen has had another big moment over the kerb and his front two wheels briefly take off before banging back down to the ground. Scary moment for the reigning world champion.
Speaking of hitting walls - Latifi understeers wide exiting Turn 2 and gives the wall a clout with his left-front. Unsurprisingly, he's straight back to the pits to have it checked out.
Now Alonso moves up to sixth on a 1m30.296s, while Ocon goes ninth on 1m30.618s. Verstappen meanwhile goes for another flier but ends up on the wrong side of the kerbs and has to back out of his lap before clipping the wall.
Another improvement for Hamilton, but only by a fraction and his 1m30.825 keeps him in ninth, behind Alonso and Tsunoda ahead.
Russell also improves, but only to a 1m30.983s that puts him 11th, a tenth and a half behind Hamilton with Zhou in-between them.
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Zhou meanwhile has vented his fury as traffic hampers his lap - "What's Merc doing?" he calls over the radio.
Hamilton has improved and popped back into the top 10, but is only ninth on a 1m30.838s.
Gasly stopping his car in the pitlane exit has been reviewed by the FIA stewards, and we're informed that there will be no further investigation.
That's a little more encouraging for Aston Martin. Stroll improves to a 1m31.067s to go 12th fastest. But will others around him make a similar gain?
There has been remarkably little running on anything other than the soft tyre in this session so far. Teams are seemingly going all out on quali sims here.
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Times are still dropping after Verstappen's effort that moved the goalposts. Bottas now goes second on a 1m30.030s.
The timesheets won't make reassuring reading for Williams, with Latifi bringing up the rear. But Albon is ahead of both Aston Martins in 17th, with Stroll currently a tenth up on team-mate Hulkenberg.
Mechanical problem
Problems for Gasly! He reports over the radio that he has an issue with his driveshaft and has abandoned the AlphaTauri at the end of the pitlane, blocking access to the other cars. In fairness to him, he's jumped out and is helping marshals to push the car back.
While we were enjoying McLaren mechanics attaching a strategic piece of black marker tape to the sidepod of Ricciardo's McLaren, Verstappen went fastest on a 1m29.768s - the first man this weekend to dip under the 1m30s bracket.
Alonso has moved up to seventh on a 1m30.519s, while Alpine team-mate Ocon also improves to tenth with a 1m30.519s - pushing Hamilton out of the top 10 for now.
Magnussen is one of only two drivers in the field who hadn't driven at Jeddah before - Hulkenberg the other, with Zhou having raced it in F2 - but has quickly got onto the pace. He's currently 12th, his best so far a 1m31.101s, only fractionally behind team-mate Schumacher's 1m31.090s.
The pecking order at the moment makes for interesting reading. It's Ferrari-AlphaTauri-Red Bull-Ferrari-AlphaTauri-Red Bull. Behind the two Alfas, the fastest Mercedes is currently Hamilton in ninth, Russell presently only 13th.
By: autosport.com
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