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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

Drivers line up to practice their start procedures at the end of FP2

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.

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Perez isn't purple in sector one, but he is in sector two!
Stopwatch
And there go Perez unleashes a 1m28.265s! Verstappen may be out, but Red Bull is far from out of contention here!
That time is half a second quicker than Leclerc and he's not even fastest in the first sector. But we know it was a bit of a scrappy lap for Alonso so there could be more pace for him to come.
Piastri and Stroll are now out, presumably to set their one and only times of the session.
Russell, meanwhile, is concerned about damage to the floor after an aggressive kerb strike, so that could lead to him slipping down the leaderboard, perhaps.
Piastri, perhaps unsurprisingly, is slowest of all the runners, while Stroll climbs up to fifth, relegating Hamilton to sixth.
Right, here we go, Alonso and the Ferraris head back out for their final efforts. Can anyone get even close to that time from Perez?
Sainz is badly blocked by one of the Mercedes drivers on his lap and that's going to cost him dear.
It seems as if Sainz is on a different strategy and perhaps this was designed to be a warm-up lap anyway and the Merc exiting the pits right in front of him was not as disastrous as it first seemed.
Alonso is a tenth down on Perez after the first two sectors, it's going to need something special in the final sector here!
And he's not able to deliver it! He improves to second with a 1m28.730s but that's still half a second behind Perez's earlier effort.
However, Stroll goes purple in sector one!
Hamilton, meanwhile, doesn't improve and is dumped down to seventh. Stroll has a huge slide at the end of the lap and therefore only makes it ip to sixth.
Leclerc goes up to second and pips Alonso and closes the gap to two tenths to Perez, but it's pole for the Red Bull driver. There's still something for the Milton Keynes team to celebrate, but not the driver you would've expected.
So Leclerc finishes second to Perez, but will fall to 12th putting Alonso back onto the front row. Russell will be third, from Sainz, Stroll, Ocon, Hamilton, Piastri and Gasly.
Perez clearly likes this circuit as he makes it two consecutive poles in Saudi Arabia. But with Alonso and Russell nipping at his heels, it could be an interesting Turn 1!
Hamilton will be disappointed not to improve on the second run and will start down in seventh. He is four tenths adrift of team-mate Russell and will be thinking what might have been.
Mixed feelings for Leclerc as he describes Red Bull as being on "a different planet" but he's still happy with the lap time he was able to produce. Will be fascinating to see him fighting through from 12th, with Verstappen three places back.
Wow, what a session that ended up being! It looked like being a Red Bull walkover but driveshaft drama for Verstappen and some improved Ferrari pace meant it was far from straightforward.
Breaking news
So, as we draw breath now, here's our round-up of that eventful qualifying: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-saudi-arabian-gp-perez-clinches-pole-verstappen-out-driveshaft-issue/10445461/
It's all set up very intriguingly tomorrow's race. Will Verstappen be able to fight through to the front from 15th? What can Alonso do into Turn 1? Will the Jeddah circuit's walls catch more drivers out? Join us from just before 5pm UK time for all the build-up to the race. Bye for now.

By: Autosport Staff

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