Verstappen tops red flagged FP3 in Jeddah as Zhou crashes

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped an eventful final practice in Jeddah on Friday afternoon, the Dutchman edging Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.196s.

The session had entered its final 20 minutes when Zhou Guanyu crashed heavily at Turn 5. The Sauber driver emerged unscathed from the wreck, but the incident shaved 15 minutes off the clock and deprived many drivers of qualifying simulations.

Behind the top two, Sergio Perez, George Russell and Lando Norris completed the top five while Ferrari super-sub Ollie Bearman acquitted himself well, the rookie ending his session with an impressive tenth fastest time.

• 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Free Practice 3 - Results

Formula 1 welcomed British rookie Ollie Bearman to its field for FP3, with the 18-year-old drafted in by Ferrari to replace an appendicitis-stricken Carlos Sainz.

It’s a big challenge for the talented young gun who relinquished his seat with Prema in F2, after claiming pole position for Saturday’s feature race, for his one-off chance to make his big F1 debut.

As was the case for FP1 yesterday, the afternoon session was held in conditions largely unrepresentative of those the drivers will face in qualifying and in the race on Saturday.

Bearman was predictably among the first to head out, the apprentice setting his early times on the medium rubber and looking fairly confident at that, even putting his name at the top of the timing screens ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton.

However, the Mercedes driver was predictably quick to reclaim the top spot, until Russell and then Leclerc overhauled the seven-time world champion.

But as the session unfolded, the bulls over at Red Bull got going, and Perez seized the lead from Verstappen. Leclerc would have none of it however, the Monegasque leaping ahead by 0.356s as the running approached its half-way mark.

Meanwhile, Friday’s pace setter Fernando Alonso had not yet set a time although he had undertaken their installation laps.

Over at Williams, Sargeant clouted the wall at Turn 22 on his first lap, a mishap that required a lengthy repair job of the FW46’s steering rack which spelled the end of the American’s session and which will seriously complicate his task in qualifying this evening.

A solid effort by Kevin Magnussen on the soft tyre propelled the Haas driver among the top-three, but the Dane was a beneficiary of the track’s rapid evolution.

Leclerc’s earlier benchmark was lowered by Verstappen with 20 minutes to go, the Dutchman putting 0.794s between the Ferrari and his Red Bull.

But drama ensued shortly after when Zhou Guanyu lost his Sauber’s rear end in the middle of Turn 5, the Chinese driver hitting the outside the Tec-Pro barrier broadside, but the impact will have put his presence in qualifying in jeopardy given the heavy repair job handed to his trusty mechanics.

The clock continued to tick down while recovery efforts at Turn 5 were underway and the Sauber was craned away.

The red flag interruption was problematic for a number of drivers who were set to undertake their qualifying simulations on the soft tyre, including Leclerc, Alonso and Bearman.

Eventually, the session resumed with four minutes left on the clock and the prospect of some frantic final flourishes on the Softs.

On his final flyer, Leclerc closed to within a tenth of Verstappen but the Dutchman remained ahead by 0.196s to top the session. Behind the two leaders, Perez, Russell and Norris completed the top five, while Alonso, Stroll, Piastri, Hamilton and an impressive Bearman rounded off the top ten.

Magnussen led the second half of the running order from Gasly, Tsunoda, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Ricciardo, Albon, Bottas and Zhou, while Sargeant closed out the field with just two laps on the board.

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