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Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
F1 Saudi Arabian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 and Qualifying
Saturday's Formula 1 action from the Jeddah Corniche Circuit
Max Verstappen took a clean sweep of top spot in Friday’s two practice sessions, with Red Bull looking dominant once again after its 1-2 in the Bahrain Grand Prix opener.
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 final practice begins at 1:30pm GMT followed by qualifying at 5:00pm GMT to decide the starting grid for the race on Sunday at 5:00pm GMT.
Live Standings
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Summary
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Summary
- Perez takes Saudi Arabian GP pole from Leclerc - the Ferrari driver will start 12th after serving grid penalty
- Leclerc's penalty puts Alonso on the front row for Aston Martin
- Verstappen suffers driveshaft failure in Q2 and qualifies 15th
- Out in Q2: P11 Hulkenberg, P12 Zhou, P13 Magnussen, P14 Bottas, P15 Verstappen
- Out in Q1: P16 Tsunoda, P17 Albon, P18 de Vries, P19 Norris, P20 Sargeant
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Leaderboard
- Perez, Red Bull, 1m28.265s
- Leclerc, Ferrari, 1m28.420s
- Alonso, Aston Martin, 1m28.730s
- Russell, Mercedes, 1m28.857s
- Sainz, Ferrari, 1m28.931s
- Stroll, Aston Martin, 1m28.945s
- Ocon, Alpine, 1m29.078s
- Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m29.223s
- Piastri, McLaren, 1m29.243s
- Gasly, Alpine, 1m29.357s
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Good afternoon and welcome to Autosport's live coverage of Saturday's track action from Jeddah. FP3 for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will go green in just over 15 minutes time.
Both of yesterday's practice sessions were headed by Red Bull's world championship leader Max Verstappen. The defending winner therefore heads into FP3 in a confident mood, although said last night he doesn't expect a repeat of his Bahrain Grand Prix dominance: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/verstappen-red-bull-f1s-advantage-in-saudi-not-like-bahrain-/10444952/
But behind him, the picture is rather unclear as Jake Boxall-Legge outlined in his Friday practice analysis. You can read that for free here: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/what-we-learned-from-friday-practice-for-f1s-saudi-arabian-gp/10445025/
Remember, FP3 isn't held in totally representative conditions that the teams will face either in qualifying or tomorrow's race being earlier in the day. That all adds to the many caveats to bear in mind when considering this afternoon's final practice session.
In another element of confusion to add into the mix, many drivers have been at pains to point out that Jeddah is a very different type of circuit to Bahrain - with Fernando Alonso stating that yesterday would be like a test day because so far the 2023 machines have only run in anger on the high-deg Sakhir International Circuit. So it may not be strictly the case that the pecking order will follow that seen in round one.
Breaking news
Away from the track, today marks the premiere of the unmissable Gilles Villeneuve-Didier Pironi documentary, Racing's Untold Tragedy. Stefan Mackley has seen it, and you can read his review of what to expect here: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/the-tale-of-f1s-most-tragic-rivalry-which-makes-for-compelling-viewing/10444996/
Sun
It's a bit overcast in Jeddah today, but air temperatures are a toasty 27.2 °C, with track temps at 43 °C.
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A few drivers are milling around happily chatting, but Nico Hulkenberg is in the Haas with his helmet on and ready to go seemingly when the lights go green.
And the one-hour FP3 is underway, although no sign of anybody taking to the track just yet.
Breaking news
We've seen plenty of sometime Virgin F1 racer, Bentley GT3 racer and Formula E racer Jerome d'Ambrosio in the Mercedes garage this weekend, and we've now been given some clarity as to what his role involves - with the possibility of it expanding. More on what the former Venturi FE team principal is up to here: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/wolff-hints-at-bigger-mercedes-f1-role-for-dambrosio/10445234/
And there's the sight of a car on track for the first time in the session. Lance Stroll ventures out in his Aston Martin.
He's joined in running the medium compound tyres by team-mate Fernando Alonso, who was second-fastest in FP2 yesterday.
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As a circuit rookie, Nyck de Vries admitted on Thursday that he needs miles here. But unfortunately he won't be getting any in FP3.
Both Stroll and Alonso pitted and switched onto hard tyres, only to then come in again.
To keep the track busy, both McLarens and Hulkenberg have popped out for the first time today.
The usual slow start to final practice is officially over. Both Alpines are also on track, both on softs, plus Friday's fastest driver Verstappen who is on hards.
Stopwatch
Piastri posts the first representative lap time of the day with a 1m32.531s as there's a charge towards pit exit from a number of drivers. It must be a two-for-one deal at the local mall.
Stopwatch
Gasly is the new pace setter with a 1m30.718s set on softs as Verstappen goes second just 0.006s slower on the hards.
Stopwatch
It is an all sorts show so far, with hards, mediums and softs all being used. Russell goes quickest, on softs, with a 1m30.476s - 0.016s faster than team-mate Hamilton on the same rubber.
Three different cars have fastest times in the different sectors so far. Alpine, Mercedes and Red Bull sharing the joy courtesy of Ocon, Russell and Verstappen.
Stopwatch
Gasly springs back to the top spot with a 1m30.161s, but is promptly beaten by Verstappen's 1m29.882s.
Ocon, also using softs, moves into fifth on a 1m30.505s. He had 'pole' here back in 2021 for one of the restarts, you may remember, and seems to like this place. But he's being shaded for now by his new team-mate, who recovered from a shocker in qualifying to score points last time out.
Stopwatch
Welcome to FP3, Perez. He leaps to the top of the times using softs to post a 1m29.417s - 0.329s faster than Verstappen.
Hamilton backs out of a flying lap due to traffic and is told "yes it is very busy out there" by race engineer Pete Bonnington. Jeddah track traffic remains a serious issue due to blind corners and speed differentials.
Stopwatch
Verstappen is still pounding around on the hards and chips away at his personal best with a 1m29.549s.
Piastri has a wobbly moment coming into Turn 22 but gets his McLaren in order again by taking to the run-off.
The run-off area at the final corner is very wide indeed, and it allows Russell to jump out of the way as Hulkenberg comes through to post his first timed lap of the session - albeit only 18th fastest.
As a reminder, last year's pole time was a 1m28.200s by current pace-setter Perez, so there's still a fair bit of time to be found. That Verstappen managed a 1m29.549s on hards suggests he may do just that on a set of soft boots.
Perez may have the best time overall, but Russell and Verstappen are quickest so far through the first and second sectors. Russell's best overall lap though is only fifth fastest so far, with both Alpines ahead of him.
Albon is splitting the Mercedes currently in sixth. Team-mate Sargeant is 18th at the moment, still building up to the pace.
Ferrari is yet to try out the soft tyres, with Leclerc and Sainz currently at the tail-end of the top 10. Aston Martin is also keeping its powder dry, having only run on the hard tyres so far.
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Few drivers are improving, but Sargeant has just bounded up to ninth on a 1m30.508s, slotting in ahead of Leclerc and Sainz.
Jeepers. Big wobble for Ocon over the kerb at Turn 10. He just about manages to keep it together. That will have sent his hear-rate spiking. We saw from Mick Schumacher's crash there last year you don't have a small accident at Turn 10.
While that was happening, Gasly set a new personal best but stayed third with a 1m29.701s.
Now Hamilton splits the Alpines on a 1m29.819s to go fourth, as Magnussen moves up to seventh on a 1m30.144s ahead of Albon, Norris and Sargeant.
Quote
"My right mirror keeps coming down," reports Perez. Not exactly sure what he means by that, but any sort of distraction around this circuit is never welcome.
Perez is on a mission and goes three tenths quicker than his previous best in sector one. A new PB incoming, we expect.
Sure enough Perez blasts to a 1m29.127s - and he's purple in all three sectors too.
By: Autosport Staff
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