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Formula 1
Bahrain GP
F1 Bahrain GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 & Qualifying
Friday's action from the first round of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Lewis Hamilton led a surprise Mercedes 1-2 at the end of practice on the opening day of track action, but many expect Red Bull to surge back to the front come qualifying.
FP3 begins at 12:30pm GMT (3:30pm local time) with qualifying at 4pm GMT (7pm local time).
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"I don't agree with this," grumbles Leclerc as he swoops past an Alpine that is dawdling towards the pit exit. It's clear that pitlane etiquette will again be a talking point.
Sainz is the only driver that has decided not to go out again. He's sitting pretty in P1 at the moment, so he's earned that call to save a set of softs (albeit having already done a timed lap on a medium set).
Zhou was only missing a fraction and temporarily gives himself respite by vaulting up to 11th. What will others do?
Magnussen and Bottas both get themselves back ahead of Zhou, and now Ricciardo does too to get himself out of danger. Stroll goes fastest in sector one - what can he pull out of the bag?
It's second for Stroll, he's avoided a Q1 exit. Now focus shifts to the Alpines...
Checkered flag
Both Ocon and Gasly improve, but it's not enough for them to avoid the drop as the checkered flag falls on Q1. P19 for Ocon and P20 for Gasly was not how the Frenchmen envisaged their season starting.
Both Haas drivers avoid the drop, but the Sauber pair aren't so lucky. Bottas ends up missing the cut in 16th, ahead of Zhou, Sargeant, Ocon and Gasly, who bemoans a "diaster outlap".
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Ocon is fairly upbeat as he's informed that the gap to Magnussen in 15th was only a tenth. He tells the team: "Only round one, we keep going, we keep pushing. I've got faith in you guys".
It's not hard to see where Zhou lost out in his intra-Sauber battle with Bottas. The Chinese driver had a big kick of oversteer exiting the final corner which he needed several attempts at controlling before fully committing to the throttle.
Stroll's late jump up to P2, just 0.056s down on Sainz, shows that track evolution will be a factor as always. More grip on the road surface = faster laptimes is a motorsport equation almost as old as time.
Green flag
FP2 is green, but no takers at the start.
It's not been a good day at the office for Alpine. One key question that will be asked back at base is how much this performance is track-specific. Ocon and Gasly will certainly hope that is the case...
Aston Martin, McLaren, RB, Haas and Williams now send their drivers out.
All 15 drivers remaining in qualifying are now on track preparing for, or embarking on, their first runs of Q2. Just how much time will they find from the improving track conditions?
Both Haas drivers are actually slower than they managed in Q1, but Norris is straight into the 1m29s to take top spot.
Alonso is Norris's closest rival so far but is unable to join the McLaren driver in ducking underneath the 1m30s barrier.
Stopwatch
Leclerc now squeezes himself into the slender gap between Norris and Alonso to briefly claim second. But they are all blown out of the water by Verstappen's gambit of 1m29.374s. He's fastest, comfortably.
Perez now clambers into second, but even he is 0.558s down his Red Bull team-mate. Norris, the best non-Red Bull, is 0.567s behind.
Magnussen has lost his first timed lap for track limits at Turn 7, while Russell will be investigated after the session for not heeding the race director's instructions regarding the maximum delta time.
Everybody is back into the pits having a new set of tyres fitted for the final Q2 runs. Hulkenberg, Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Albon and Magnussen are the five currently outside the top 10 cut-off.
Here comes the flood of cars slowly exiting the pits. Leclerc isn't happy with drivers stopping on the pitlane in front of Sainz.
A reminder of the top 10 order coming into the final runs. Verstappen heads Perez, Norris, Leclerc, Alonso and Hamilton. Sainz, after topping Q1, is only seventh ahead of Piastri, Russell and Stroll.
Albon finds three tenths in the first sector in his bid to escape the drop. What can he do in the rest of the lap?
Wowzers, Hulkenberg has vaulted up to second!
Magnussen improves too, but it's not enough to make the cut as Albon now finds himself on the bubble.
Ricciardo won't make it either, but will the two Mercedes be joining him in the drop zone?
Stopwatch
Leclerc now goes top on a 1m29.165s, but all eyes are now on the Mercedes.
Checkered flag
They left it late, but both Mercedes do progress to Q3 as the flag comes out, with Hamilton fourth and Russell seventh.
Tsunoda misses out by 0.007s in P11, while Stroll is also unfortunate with just 0.078s between himself and Piastri in a relieved tenth spot. Albon, Ricciardo and Magnussen are also eliminated from qualifying.
More qualifying heroics then from Hulkenberg, who ensures Haas is represented in Q3 with a fine sixth place. Bravo sir.
Leclerc ended Q2 on top of the pile with 0.209s in hand over Verstappen, while Sainz moved up to third late on ahead of Hamilton.
Alonso, Hulkenberg, Russell, Perez, Norris and Piastri will join them in Q3 which will get going shortly.
Leclerc's best time featured purple sectors in the middle and final part of the lap, with Verstappen quickest in the opening leg. Worth bearing in mind going into Q3.
Track temps have dropped by 0.7 °C since qualifying began. Don't know what you'll do with that information, just thought you'd like to know.
Stroll can be considered doubly disgruntled to miss out on Q3. The 0.007s margin by which Tsunoda was denied would have been more befitting of an Aston Martin driver...
Green flag
We're green for Q3, and Hulkenberg is joined on track by the McLaren pair to get us rolling.
Now in Q3 if there were any doubts about who has been holding their cards close will surely be done away with. Time to see what you've got.
Stopwatch
Hulkenberg puts the first time of the session on the board, a 1m30.502s to briefly hold top spot, but it's immediately swept aside by Norris's 1m29.679s.
Stopwatch
Russell then takes the top spot for Mercedes, but Verstappen is faster still on a 1m29.421s.
But here come the Ferraris: Leclerc is fastest in sector three and just misses out on provisional pole by 0.059s!
By: Autosport Staff
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