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Formula 1 Saudi Arabian GP

F1 Saudi Arabian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2

Friday's action from the second round of the 2023 Formula 1 season

Sparks kick up from Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19

The 2023 F1 season resumes in Jeddah, with plenty of talking points to focus on, including reigning world champion and Bahrain GP winner Max Verstappen who missed his Thursday commitments due to a stomach bug, meaning his first appearance this weekend will be in first practice.

Following the Red Bull domination in Bahrain, all eyes will be on what its rivals can do in response at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, and whether Aston Martin can maintain its surprise start having seen Fernando Alonso finish on the podium in the opener.

Charles Leclerc goes into the Saudi race with a 10-place grid penalty due to taking his third set of control electronics for his Ferrari after his Bahrain retirement.

Saudi Arabian GP first practice begins at 1:30pm GMT followed by second practice which starts at 5:00pm GMT. Qualifying takes place on Saturday at 5:00pm GMT to decide the starting grid for the race on Sunday at 5:00pm GMT.

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Meanwhile Gasly complains his brakes are "completely rubbish" to Alpine, which is unusual given there aren't too many heavy braking zones here.
Quote
"I don't know what's going on. I don't have any front end," Perez reports over team radio.
De Vries nips into the top 10 with a 1m31.460s to lead the rookie pack with Piastri 14th and Sargeant 17th. It hasn't been a great session for Alfa Romeo though, with Bottas and Zhou 18th and 19th respectively.
Stopwatch
Alonso chips away at Verstappen's advantage, getting it down to exactly half a second, as he remains second fastest overall.
Hamilton reports over team radio he's struggling for grip on the softs, with the track yet to rubber in.
Both Mercedes drivers have built up their speed on their second runs, with Russell into fourth and Hamilton fifth, but both are still almost a full second off Verstappen.
Stopwatch
Verstappen, who goes for a third quick lap on these softs, puts in a 1m29.815s to push his advantage up to 0.694s. He has set his lap times later in the session compared to Alonso and Perez, but that's still a mighty margin to hold.
Ferrari has changed both Leclerc's and Sainz's power units as a precaution following its Bahrain troubles, but that won't mean further penalty pain. Elsewhere, Norris also has a new engine but he also won't serve a penalty for it.
Stopwatch
Verstappen, despite complaining of understeer at Turn 22, pops in a 1m30.062s to go almost half a second quicker than Alonso. It looks like that stomach bug hasn't held him back too much!
Gasly said he thinks Alpine could have mixed it up with the Mercedes if it had a clean weekend in Bahrain, so they will be ones to watch after underperforming in the opener.
So, we've had representative lap times from everyone and the top three is the same as Bahrain but then come the two Alpines who, for different reasons, didn't show off their true potential in Bahrain.
Stopwatch
Verstappen is out of sequence with most of the other drivers due to his tardy start to the session, but with just his second push lap on the softs he goes top with a 1m30.494s - 0.015s quicker than Alonso. Not bad.
Stopwatch
Alonso goes for another push lap and regains top spot by 0.083s over Perez. Get your ticket for the hypetrain, because it is ready to leave the station.
Stopwatch
Verstappen pops up to third with his first timed lap, a 1m31.564s on softs, to put him within a second of team-mate Perez.
For the first time this weekend we see Verstappen, who joins the action 20 minutes into the session.
Stopwatch
Perez and Alonso are trading fastest lap times while both running on the softs, with Perez taking the honours for now with a 1m30.592s, 0.177s quicker than the Spaniard.
Stopwatch
Alonso returns to the top of the times with a 1m31.262s set on the softs. That Aston hasn't lost any of its speed shown in Bahrain just yet, but can it keep up when the pace picks up later on?
After his push lap, Leclerc eases off and gets a late call to watch for traffic with Russell approaching fast. Thankfully no harm done, but that's a common jeopardy on this high-speed street track with blind corners.
The two Ferraris slot into second and third, Leclerc beating his team-mate by a tenth of a second, with both drivers running on the hards.
Stopwatch
Perez puts Red Bull back on top with a 1m31.486s, a full second clear of Albon who slots into second, while there is still no sign of Verstappen on track yet.
Stopwatch
Alonso is already in the zone though, as he puts in a 1m32.838s to briefly go top on the softs before Hamilton replaces him, on hards, with a 1m32.656s. But very early days.
It feels odd watching F1 cars in the daylight at Saudi given FP2, quali and the race are run fully in the night. It is like an all-new circuit with different references.
Stopwatch
Perez, on softs, lays down a new marker with a 1m32.969s despite running a little wide over the kerbs.
18 of the 20 drivers have been out already, just sicknotes Verstappen (stomach bug) and Stroll (wrist) missing from the pack.
Stopwatch
The first laps times are coming in, with Sainz leading the early efforts with a 1m34.831s.
Not such a smooth start for Perez though, who doesn't get enough steering lock on coming out of his garage and has to stop to avoid clipping the pitwall. No harm done, as he gets going with a fuss.
All the rookies are out early; de Vries has never driven here while Sargeant and Piastri have during their F2 days. In fact, Piastri has happy memories here given he won one sprint race and the feature race in the support category here.
Green flag
Here we go for first practice! Plenty of early takers despite the unrepresentative conditions compared to the rest of the weekend.
The Jeddah track, which has hosted two barnstormers in its short history, has undergone minor changes for safety. The third DRS zone has been tweaked while walls and kerbs have been altered to avoid the serious hits, like Schumacher suffered for Haas last year.
Anyway, enough of what has been happening off the track and earlier this week, it is time to focus on the here and now. The drivers are heading to the garages for the start of the session.
Breaking news
Elsewhere, there has been a 'bike ban' for F1 drivers and teams completing track walks at circuits on Thursdays on safety grounds.

Full story: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-drivers-subject-to-track-walk-bike-ban/10444539/
Penalty
But a lasting discomfort is being felt at Ferrari, as Leclerc will serve a 10-place grid drop in Saudi for already burning through his allowed sets of control electronics in his power unit following his Bahrain DNF.
Down at Red Bull, this morning is the first time Verstappen was in the paddock having missed Thursday due to a stomach bug. He should be all OK for the race weekend, mind.
Breaking news
Meanwhile, Hamilton estimates Mercedes is 1.5s per lap slower than Red Bull in race trim, as the team hunts an overhaul to its car to get back in the fight at the front.

Full story: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/hamilton-mercedes-up-to-15s-per-lap-slower-than-red-bull-in-f1-race-trim/10444282/
Breaking news
Hamilton has announced he's split with long-time trainer Angela Cullen, as she pursues new adventures. The pair had been working together since 2016 and she's probably the first person you'd spot alongside Hamilton. 

Full story: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/hamilton-splits-with-long-time-trainer-angela-cullen/10444678/
Saudi Arabian GP first practice gets going in just over 15 minutes, so before then we have time to recap the biggest talking points from the paddock so far.
Hello everyone! How are we? Fancy some F1 action, well you are in luck.

By: Autosport Staff

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