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Formula 1 Turkish GP

F1 Turkish GP Live Updates - final practice and qualifying

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Now Ocon improves to ninth and pushes Vettel out. There's a second for the Ferrari man to find if he wants to make Q3.
Stopwatch
Verstappen has improved again meanwhile, his best now a 1m52.036s ahead of Bottas on a 1m53.767s. No doubt about it, that Red Bull is working very well here.
Hamilton is third, Albon moving up to fourth ahead of Perez, Stroll, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Giovinazzi and Ocon rounding out the top 10 as it stands with just over two minutes to go.
Sainz meanwhile has ditched the intermediates he started with and moves up to P10, knocking Ocon out once again. Can the Frenchman respond?
Stopwatch
Verstappen continuing to find grip where nobody else can now does a 1m50.293, over 3s quicker than the next quickest non-Red Bull, with Albon moving up to second on a 1m52.282s.
Ocon is back in for now, flinging his Renault up to P8 ahead of Ricciardo and Giovinazzi. Will it be enough?
The stewards are investigating an alleged impeding incident involving Sainz and Perez, which we'll update you on later on.
Checkered flag
The checkered flag is out, will there be any more late changes?
A superb lap from Giovinazzi moves the Italian up to fifth and out of danger, so Ricciardo is now the man on the bubble - but Norris can only improve to 11th, so the Australian is safe it appears.
Sure enough, Norris, Vettel, Sainz, Leclerc and Gasly all miss out - Norris 0.7s slower than Ricciardo, who squeaks through to Q3.
No doubt about the star of Q2 then - Verstappen utterly dominant, 2s quicker than team-mate Albon in second. If the conditions are like this tomorrow, the rest are going to having to pay a ticket to get in.
Hamilton was third, 2.4s slower than Verstappen, ahead of Stroll and the impressive Giovinazzi. They'll be joined by Ocon, Bottas, Raikkonen, Perez and Ricciardo. Between third and 10th was less time than between first and second...
Green flag
Now we're underway for Q3. All bets are off for this one.
Ocon has taken intermediates for Q3. It didn't work out for McLaren in Q2, but does he know something we don't?
Both Alfas are through to Q3 for the first time this year. Could we see Giovinazzi and Raikkonen troubling the regular front-runners in these ultra low-grip conditions?
Stopwatch
Verstappen lays down an early benchmark of 1m52.326 - it's two seconds slower than his Q2 time, but a whole 4s - yes, four - faster than Bottas in second at the moment.
Now Stroll moves up to second with a 1m53.832s. Bottas bumped down to third, Albon to fourth.
Stopwatch
Hello, there's a turn-up. Perez now goes quickest on a 1m52.037s as Verstappen aborts his second flyer and comes into the pits.
Verstappen was set to improve, but he's decided to come in for intermediates - following the example of the Racing Points, which both selected the green side-wall tyres.
Perez meanwhile has had a half-spin at Turn 4, the back-end stepping out meaning he won't be improving on that lap.
It looks like everybody else is now following suit in changing to inters, Mercedes double-stacking its drivers as Hamilton follows in Bottas.
Raikkonen meanwhile is still pounding around on full wets and has moved up to third on a 1m53.671s, clearly gambling on tyre temperature being more important than the compound itself.
So with three minutes remaining, Perez currently leads Verstappen, Raikkonen, Stroll and Ricciardo. Barmy!
Yellow flag
Bottas is P6, Albon P7, then Hamilton, Giovinazzi and Ocon. Meanwhile we've got the yellows out somewhere.
Now Albon launches up to third, but Verstappen is complaining over the radio that he can't get his new tyres to work. Perez could be on for a first career pole here!
It's shades of Spa 1998 now - Stroll goes second to give Racing Point (formerly Jordan, of course) a provisional 1-2!
Perez now improves again - it's a 1m49.321s for the Mexican, he's in dreamland!
Now Verstappen goes second, but it's not enough to depose Perez - it's a 1m50.676s for the Red Bull man.
Wait a moment, now Stroll goes quickest - and it's a blinder too. A 1m47.765s. Where did that come from?
Stroll goes 1.5s quicker than Perez on that lap, as Verstappen bumps himself up to second on a 1m48.055s. We believe Perez went off on that last lap, which was over two minutes.
Remarkably, Lance Stroll is on pole position. We believe that's the first for a Canadian since Jerez 1997 and the first for the team since Spa 2009.
Verstappen was just three tenths shy in the end, but the man who has comfortably led every session so far this weekend took too long to get his inters up to temperature after the mid-session switch and paid the price.
Perez ends up third, still his best-ever grid slot after starting fourth nine times, with Albon sharing the second row in the second Red Bull.
What of Mercedes? Hamilton is sixth, just behind Ricciardo, while Bottas can only muster P9 behind Ocon and Raikkonen as Giovinazzi completes the top 10.
It's almost a sideshow today given the mixed-up qualifying, but Bottas will be disappointed with that effort. On a weekend where he needs a good result to keep the title alive heading to Bahrain, he missed a big chance to capitalise.
As Luke Smith points out on Twitter, this is by no means the final qualifying result though, as the stewards have a lot of investigations to pour over from the yellow flags in Q1.

By: Jake Boxall-Legge

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