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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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Schumacher and Alonso now split the Mercedes pair with laps of 1m31.090s and 1m31.142s respectively. Verstappen meanwhile goes fifth fastest with his first effort, which is almost immediately beaten by Gasly - who fires into second on a 1m30.148s.
Russell's first effort puts him just behind team-mate Hamilton in ninth on a 1m31.252s and shuffles Mick Schumacher back to tenth.
Perez meanwhile has improved and goes second on a 1m30.291s. We're still yet to see a flyer from Verstappen, who is currently on a preparation lap.
Hamilton goes again and clocks a 1m31.023s, but it's only good enough for P7 and is immediately beaten by Tsunoda, who goes fifth-fastest between the two Alfa Romeos on a 1m30.840s.
Gasly had been fifth after his first timed run, but is shuffled down a place by Zhou - who sets a 1m30.946s, just two-tenths off his Alfa Romeo team-mate Bottas in third.
Hamilton meanwhile has had a moment and runs wide over the Turn 17 run-off - that's a lap aborted for the seven-time world champion.
We've just had a quick flurry of times, with Sainz improving to a 1m30.323s but staying second, while Bottas improved to third on a 1m30.732s - enough to stave off Perez's first flyer for Red Bull - a 1m30.747s. AlphaTauri drivers Gasly and Tsunoda also pop up into the top 10.
Daniel Ricciardo was knocked out in Q1 in Bahrain, so will be looking for an upswing in form here. His first lap is a 1m32.264s, and puts him seventh for the time being.
As in Bahrain, the Williams pair are propping up the leaderboard currently. Albon's 1m32.854s is six-tenths down on Zhou ahead, while Latifi is a further 1.5 seconds down on a 1m34.377s.
Norris now improves, springing up to third on a 1m31.529s.
Meanwhile Bottas goes third-fastest on a 1m31.580s, with Zhou slotting into fourth on a 1m32.274s.
The Ferraris have both improved their times, and its Leclerc now on top with a 1m30.139s - close to his FP2 benchmark. Sainz also improves but can only manage a 1m30.671s.
Norris's first timed effort is a 1m32.589 which puts him third, comfortably adrift of the two Ferraris. The 2021 McLaren versus Ferrari slug-fest now seems a very long time ago...
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Bottas, who was third-fastest for Alfa in FP1 yesterday, now heads out on the soft tyre - as does Norris in the McLaren, the team behind the curve due to fixes needed on its brake ducts.
With his preparation lap of 1m53.016s, Leclerc is the first man to put a time on the board. His following lap of 1m31.052s though was beaten by Sainz, who surges to the top of the leaderboard with a 1m31.011s.
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Here's the latest story from the F1 team bosses press conference, as it emerges that drivers still have concerns over racing in Jeddah after Friday's missile strike on a nearby oil station.
We've yet to have a representative time so far, but that might be about to change as both Sainz and Leclerc have headed out on soft tyres.
As a reminder, the benchmark time set yesterday was Leclerc's 1m30.074s set in FP2. He'd earlier gone quickest in FP1 with a 1m30.772s lap.
Conditions in Jeddah are warm, naturally. Track temperatures are 30.0 degrees, with air temperatures of 24.3 degrees.
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Bottas is joined on track by team-mate Guanyu Zhou and Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, who scored that memorable fifth place in last Sunday's Bahrain season-opener.
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We're underway now for FP3, with Valtteri Bottas the first man out of the pits for Alfa Romeo.
Amid all of this, there was track running yesterday and Ferrari set the pace with Bahrain GP winner Charles Leclerc - but it wasn't a straightforward session for the Maranello as both Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr got acquainted with the unforgiving walls. For Plus subscribers, here's Matt Kew's full analysis: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/why-ferrari-might-rue-costly-jeddah-f1-errors-fp2/9322323/
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However, team bosses stated that there should be a discussion over the event's future after this weekend.
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F1 team bosses fielded questions earlier today regarding the nature of the talks, with explanations of Jeddah's missile and drone defence systems proving critical to easing their concerns.
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In a carefully-worded statement, the Grand Prix Drivers Association stated that "natural human concerns" prompted the body to question whether or not the race should go ahead. You can read that statement in full here:
There's been only one real story in the build-up to today's running - and that concerns whether the race should proceed at all following a missile strike on a nearby oil facility yesterday. Talks went on into the early hours of this morning involving drivers, teams, the FIA and the local authorities before it was confirmed the event would go ahead.
Free Practice 3 gets underway in a little under 10 minutes. We'll be bringing you updates throughout the session and in the build-up to qualifying which is due to start at 17:00 GMT.
Greetings everybody, welcome to Autosport's live coverage of Saturday's action from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
By: autosport.com
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