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Formula 1
Saudi Arabia GP
F1 Saudi Arabia GP Live Commentary and Updates
Friday's sessions from the inaugural Saudi GP at the Jeddah street circuit
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Ocon reports some issues with his rear tyres on his Alpine.
Stopwatch
Bottas improves to slot into P2 but is still 0.5s slower than Verstappen. Bottas is running on the softs.
Verstappen continues to shave chunks of time from his benchmark. He punches out a 1m30.354s. Red Bull is running its lower downforce rear wing.
Hamilton drops to P4 as Gasly now fires into P3.
Stopwatch
Hamilton jumps from 14th to third with a 1m31.478s on the softs. Stroll pops his Aston Martin into P8.
Hamilton is on a better lap.
Verstappen is 0.4s faster than Norris with Bottas third a further 0.3s adrift.
Stopwatch
Verstappen improves again. The Dutchman is the first into the 1m30s bracket.
Hamilton is currently seventh, 2.3s shy of Verstappen. Hamilton interestingly is on the soft tyres while Verstappen's time arrived on the hard tyres.
Ricciardo is now second fastest, 0.7s shy of Verstappen.
Stopwatch
Verstappen has shaved almost two seconds off his benchmark as he fires in a 1m31.736s.
Stopwatch
Norris puts his McLaren into P2 but is eclipsed by Bottas. All cars are out on track now.
Gasly slots into P2 for AlphaTauri.
Norris pumps in a 1m35.445s which is then smashed by Verstappen on hard tyres. The championship leader fires in 1m33.614s.
Sainz sets the first timed lap which is beaten by Ricciardo and then Stroll.
At this point, Hamilton, Bottas, Alonso, Latifi and Russell remain in the garages. Everyone else is on track.
As expected, a flurry of cars head out on track straight away as they look to gather valuable mileage and information.
Green flag
We are GO in Saudi Arabia.
Speaking during media day yesterday, the drivers fully expect this ultra fast 27 turn circuit to provide a real challenge. It could be quite a challenge to remember all of those corners.
This weekend the C4, C3, C2 compound tyres will be in use.
In the earlier F2 session there were significant operational delays in getting the session underway. Once it did begin, Turns 1, 17 and 22 were the areas that caught drivers out.
Before we get underway. Track temperature is 36 degrees while the air temperature is 28.4 degrees. Humidity is high at 70.2%.
It is worth pointing out that the Williams cars will be running a fitting tribute this weekend to its founder Sir Frank Williams, who sadly passed away last Sunday.
Common with new tracks, the surface is incredibly dusty but will be cleaned up as more session are held. So far we have already had a Porsche one-make series on track and Formula 2 practice. There were significant delays however.
Free Practice 1, which will begin in 15 minutes, will offer F1 teams and drivers a first opportunity to tackle the all-new 27 turn Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Good morning and welcome to our live commentary from the inaugural Formula 1 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.
By: Autosport Staff
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