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.
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"I've damaged the front left steering," Norris confirms over team radio. That could be the Briton's day done.
Norris is riding his luck at the final corner as he clunks the wall with the front left tyre - has that done any damage to his suspension?
Magnussen is the next major improver as he leaps up to fourth, a tenth behind team-mate Hulkenberg. This is looking promising for the Haas squad.
Russell and Hamilton are now fourth and sixth in the Mercedes machines, while the Astons have now vacated the pits.
Stopwatch
But now we have a familiar sight, Red Bulls back at the top of the timesheets. Verstappen puts in a 1m28.761s to go an enormous six tenths quicker than team-mate Perez and over a second better than Hulkenberg's effort.
And that's a good effort from the Haas driver as Leclerc is two tenths slower with his first effort and takes second.
But, Sargeant now has that decent lap time deleted for track limits, so Hulkenberg is now the pacesetter.
The big guns have headed out now with the Red Bulls and Mercedes drivers joining the fray, just leaving the Astons in the pits.
So, Sargeant still heads the times from Hulkenberg, Albon, Magnussen, Bottas and Norris.
Replays have just shown a very dramatic spin for de Vries! The rear of the car seemed to lock and left the AlphaTauri driver a passenger there.
Stopwatch
We've now got the early lap times coming in and Sargeant sets the early pace with a 1m29.721s.
He's able to get back going again - and worth bearing in mind the Dutchman has no prior experience of this challenging venue and that could dent his chances of getting through to Q2.
Yellow flag
Oh and there's drama already! De Vries has spun at the first corner!
The Ferraris are next to venture out and they're also on the soft rubber.
In terms of tyre watch, it's softs all round - as the 10 cars heading out so far all could be at risk of elimination here.
The McLarens and Alfa Romeos also now head out, all keen to try and get some times in and avoid the worst of the traffic.
Unsurprisingly, there's a queue of cars to head out on track, with the Williams machines leading the way from the AlphaTauris and the Haas cars.
Green flag
And we're away! Q1 begins
Given the apparent closeness of the midfield in F1 this year, there is the potential for another major scalp in Q1 this year after Hamilton's elimination 12 months ago.
Right, this is your five-minute warning! Q1 will be here very shortly.
Sun
Unsurprisingly, the risk of rain in this session is 0% with air temperature currently 27C. And, no, we don't have a moon symbol so you'll have to make do with the sun!
However, it's worth bearing in mind Saudi Arabia provided Mercedes with misery last year. Hamilton failed to even get out of Q1 and will be eager to avoid a repeat today.
Incidentally, today marks 16 years to the day since Lewis Hamilton made his F1 debut and burst onto the scene with a podium finish in Australia in 2007 with McLaren. Given Mercedes' current struggles, a repeat result for Hamilton this weekend appears a major challenge.
Speaking of Q1, it's now just 10 minutes until qualifying is due to begin!
Continuing the Italian misery, it's not a happy place down at AlphaTauri, either. De Vries already heads into the weekend as the only driver yet to experience this challenging Saudi circuit and he then missed the entire FP3 session earlier while his engine was being changed, so expect him to be heading out early in Q1 to get some running in.
While Red Bull and Aston Martin are again looking strong here, it's far less rosy at Ferrari. The scarlet cars haven't shown their true pace yet this weekend with their engines believed to be turned down amid reliability concerns - and it's worth remembering that Leclerc has a 10-place grid penalty for already moving onto his third control electronics system of the year: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/leclerc-saudi-arabian-gp-grid-penalty-after-bahrain-f1-engine-trouble/10443704/
Breaking news
Traffic is expected to be a major factor, particularly in Q1, so there's always the potential for a surprise or two. Some tweaks were made to the Jeddah circuit's layout this year to try to help, but drivers are unconvinced they make much difference: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-drivers-think-jeddah-safety-changes-made-little-difference/10445271/
But, before we write-off qualifying as another Red Bull rampage, let's just remember we're at a fast, unforgiving street circuit so this session may not follow the usual script!
So far, Red Bull has looked in ominously good form here - even by its own impressive standards in recent years. Verstappen has topped every session and, in FP3 earlier this afternoon, he was a second clear of the next non-Red Bull driver, Alonso's Aston Martin.
Hello, and welcome back to live coverage of the Saturday of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix! Qualifying is now due to begin in just over 20 minutes.
Not got long to wait before the grid is set for tomorrow's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Qualifying commences at 5pm UK time, so join us then to see who can escape an early Q1 bath and whether anybody can stop the Red Bull juggernaut. Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you later!
Breaking news
In case you missed any of the action from the session, here's the full report from Jake Boxall-Legge: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-saudi-arabian-gp-verstappen-leads-fp3-from-perez-alonso-third/10445320/
Another team eyeing progression to Q2 will be Williams. Logan Sargeant only missed out in Bahrain by dint of setting an identical time to Lando Norris after the McLaren man, so can the blue cars come out of the traps firing?
And needless to say, with Nyck de Vries not managing any track running in that session and Yuki Tsunoda bringing up the rear of the 19-car pack, AlphaTauri has a bit of head-scratching to do before qualifying. Can the Red Bull B-team avoid a Q1 exit?
McLaren though you expect will be cheered by its display, with Norris and Piastri seventh and eighth. After a chastening Bahrain, things appear to be moving more in the right direction for the papaya team on this fast and challenging street track.
Alpine did a lot of its heavy lifting earlier in the session and weren't chasing laptimes towards the end of the session. Just how representative is Gasly's ninth place and the 14th mustered by Ocon?
Red Bull and Aston Martin, clearly, look in decent shape - continuing their form from Bahrain. But Ferrari appear to have work to do if Leclerc is to be in with a fight of challenging for a front row slot as he did two weeks ago.
Drivers are completing practice starts on the grid before heading back to the pits. The next time they climb aboard will be for qualifying, and some teams will be significantly happier about what shape they're in than others.
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All the cars have now crossed the line and the classification is set, with Verstappen fastest from Perez, Alonso and Stroll. A pair of Red Bulls from a pair of Aston Martins.
By: Autosport Staff
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