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Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
F1 Saudi Arabian GP Live Commentary and Updates – Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2023 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
After Max Verstappen dominated practice, a driveshaft failure on his Red Bull dumped him out of Q2 in qualifying and means he starts the race in Jeddah from 15th place.
Team-mate Sergio Perez starts on pole, beating Charles Leclerc to top spot in qualifying, who in turn also drops down the starting order due to a 10-place grid penalty for an electrical package change following his Bahrain retirement.
Leclerc’s penalty elevates Fernando Alonso on to the front row for Aston Martin, with George Russell in third place for Mercedes.
The Saudi Arabian GP starts at 5:00pm GMT.
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Stroll comes out the pits into 11th
Pit stop
Stroll pits from fourth place, as the first of the frontrunners to dive into the pitlane. Sainz, who was told to pit, stays out. A bit of dummy work?
Another one bites the dust - Verstappen passes Ocon into sixth
Alonso's pace is still allowing him to pull clear of Russell in third with the gap at 7s. "My tyres feel good, we can keep going," he says.
Leclerc passes Ocon with the help of DRS - he's up into sixth
Perez is told to look after his front-right tyre by race engineer Hugh Bird but he's dropped Alonso now with the gap at 2.5s.
Zhou and Hulkenberg have also gone for an early pitstop
Verstappen breezes past Hamilton on the start-finish straight into eighth place
Stopwatch
Perez is turning the screw now. He posts a 1m34.106s which is seven-tenths faster than Alonso on lap 10. During practice the Red Bulls had the best race pace over the rest, so this is playing into Perez's hands now.
Further back, Bottas has pitted from 15th
Verstappen easily sweeps past Gasly into ninth place
The fight between the front two is pulling them away from Russell in third. The Mercedes driver is 5s back but has moved out of DRS range of Stroll behind him.
Hamilton says "the grip sucks on this tyre" - he's one of only two drivers on the hards alongside Logan Sargeant
Leclerc moves straight past Hamilton at Turn 1 into seventh place
Quote
"Plan A. Definitely Plan A", Alonso is told over team radio. "Yep, mate. I'm definitely trying," he replies.
Hamilton is under investigation by the stewards for weaving on the start-finish straight
Stopwatch
Perez pumps in a 1m34.227s to set a new fastest lap and put another two-tenths into his advantage over Alonso.
Verstappen passes Zhou down to Turn 1 - an easy move up into the top 10
Perez isn't pulling away from Alonso, who still has DRS to assist him, with the gap only 0.6s on the seventh lap.
Leclerc makes it past Gasly into eighth - next up the road is Hamilton on the hard tyres
Russell, in third, has Stroll and Sainz tucked up behind him and then there is a 2s gap to Ocon in sixth.
Very wide from Verstappen there at Turn 22 - mind the track limits, Max!
Gasly and Leclerc are both catching on Hamilton in the battle for seventh
Perez did have a nasty lock-up of his front-right tyre under braking when he passed Alonso, which could be something to worry about later on. He's currently 0.7s up the road on Alonso.
Another place made up for Verstappen - he passes the other Haas of Magnussen for 11th
TV replays show that Alonso was too far to the left of his grid slot at the start. Fairly obvious, which is why there wasn't much protest from the Spaniard.
A replay shows Piastri's broken front wing came from contact with Gasly
Verstappen makes up another place past Hulkenberg into 12th
Perez retakes the lead, using DRS, powering up the inside of Alonso at Turn 1 at the start of lap four.
"Copy," is the only response Alonso gives to being informed of his penalty over team radio. Probably because he's concentrating on trying to nip clear at the front, 0.8s ahead of Perez.
Norris is also in the pits - another front wing change for McLaren
For the time being, Alonso leads from Perez and is trying to scamper out of DRS range which activates at the start of lap 3.
Leclerc has gained three positions, up into ninth, with Verstappen up two to 13th
Penalty
Alonso has been given a five-second penalty for an incorrect starting position! Nightmare for the race leader!
Oscar Piastri has lost his right front wing endplate from his McLaren and been forced to pit
Stroll goes around the outside of Sainz at Turn 13 to move up to fourth on the opening lap.
Charles Leclerc is already up from 12th to 10th, with Max Verstappen still in 15th
But Alonso has been noted for an incorrect starting location, which Ocon got a penalty for in Bahrain, so we'll keep an eye on that one!
Lights green
Alonso dives into the lead at Turn 1! He gets the perfect start and jumps Perez!
Perez leads the F1 order to the grid which is really stretched out. Here we go!
By: Autosport Staff
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