Saudi Arabian GP: Max Verstappen leads Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez to complete Jeddah practice treble

Max Verstappen dominated final practice to to finish 0.6s clear of Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez; Fernando Alonso third as Aston Martin remain best of the rest; Watch Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying live on Saturday from 4pm on Sky Sports F1

Max Verstappen has topped all three practice sessions at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen led team-mate Sergio Perez to complete a practice treble at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso remained Red Bull’s closest challenger.

The reigning world champion continued his dominant form by recording a 1:28.485 to finish more than 0.6s ahead of Perez, with Alonso just short of a second behind the Dutchman in third.

While Red Bull have established themselves as heavy favourites for both qualifying later on Saturday and Sunday’s race, the battle behind them promises to be thrilling with just half a second covering Alonso and the 12 cars that finished behind him.

Lance Stroll underlined Aston Martin’s strength by slotting in behind Alonso in fourth, while Lewis Hamilton improved on his Friday showing to end fifth for Mercedes.

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Verstappen just misses Lando Norris as he gets away with his mistake out in P3 at the Saudi Arabia GP.

Charles Leclerc, who will receive a 10-place grid penalty in Sunday’s race after taking on new parts, was sixth but Ferrari did little to smooth fears over their reliability as both of their drivers appeared to operate with their newly-fitted power units for this weekend running well below full capacity.

The late-afternoon session provides an imperfect indicator of how qualifying will shake out under the lights later on Saturday, but the fact that the track temperature dropped amid heavy cloud cover made conditions more representative.

More to follow…

Formula 1 street racing is back! Watch the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race are live at 5pm. Get Sky Sports