F1 Saudi Arabian GP live commentary and updates - FP1

Curious moment for Max Verstappen there as he makes a practice start and then overcooks it into Turn 1, locking his front wheels. Not a happy session for the world champ, complaining that his car wouldn't turn. P9 for Max.

Third-placed Charles Leclerc the busiest driver of that session, clocking up 28 laps. As previously billed, Racing Bulls working on some car issues and Liam Lawson ends the session with just 19 laps on the board, Isack Hadjar 15.

Peculiarly, Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri have gone back out even though the chequered flag is showing. Piastri on scrubbed softs, no doubt heading for a practice start. Norris's tyre not showing on our screens at the moment but likely the same.

Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc currently seeing out the session on what you might call medium runs rather than long runs - Norris peels in after nine laps on those scrubbed mediums, Leclerc now also chalks up his ninth. Charles is still P3.

Heart-in-mouth moment for Lando Norris there as an oversteer twitch sends him over the painted area beyond the kerbs at Turn 22. At this circuit the tiniest mistake can gain momentum because the fast corners flow into one another - and once you're off-line through one, it compromises you into the next, and before long your car is introducing itself to the barrier.

Wondering what Lewis Hamilton is up to? So are we. Currently parked in the garage after a six-lap run on the softs, following 10 laps on mediums earlier. Yesterday he had some quite interesting thoughts on why Ferrari's status as F1's most historic team inevitably leads to greater scrutiny, which is why he has been under the cosh recently...

After five laps on softs, Max Verstappen is striking a happy medium again. Well, not that happy, since it's a scrubbed set from earlier. He was briefly the only medium runner on track, but Lando Norris has also binned off the softs and is back out on scrubbed mediums.

Williams team boss James Vowles gave a briefing to select media earlier on today. You will be pleased to know we were on the invitation list. He has opened up a little more on the shortcomings of the team's simulation tools at the moment. Yes, he's banged this drum before. A caution for those of you playing the James Vowles Drinking Game: he uses a common Vowles-ism which is a 'down in one' in the game's tariff.

James Vowles, Williams

Photo by: Peter Fox - Getty Images

IT'S A GASLY BUSINESS

The F1 TV feed showed Pierre Gasly having a moment earlier and narrowly rescuing his A525 from an appointment with the tyre barrier. He's just gone top with a 1m29.239s on softs - his first flying lap on a new set.

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Lando Norris has pitted and gone back out on the same set of softs. No sign of him bettering that time from earlier. Piastri still circulating on the same set of softs he emerged on five laps ago.

Interesting to note that the two Racing Bulls have completed relatively few laps. Liam Lawson has done 11 on mediums, Isack Hadjar 8 laps (also on mediums). Both currently in the garage and Sky TV are reporting they have their rear wings off, which does not augur well.

Russell just 1m29.618s so far on those softs, just hundredths quicker than his medium-shod time. A reminder that while we can observe laptimes and tyre compounds on the data but fuel loads are often harder to divine...

Norris did 1m29.980 earlier. He was purple in the first sector, then green in the second, then purple in the third despite an understeer lurch at the final corner. 1m29.246s.

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Veritably it is softs o'clock as Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Nico Hulkenberg and Oliver Bearman join the throng.

Oscar Piastri also out on soft tyres. His previous best was 1m30.334s, Sainz has just done a 1m29.919s. That is only half a second or so quicker than Carlos went on hard tyres earlier on.

Fascinatingly, according to our data feed Carlos Sainz has just emerged on soft-compound tyres.

Carlos Sainz, Williams

Photo by: Peter Fox - Getty Images

After that opening flurry of activity there's a slightly fallow period on track. Just Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Jack Doohan and Esteban Ocon running now. Track temperature now 49 degrees - it was over 50 earlier!

This session isn't especially representative given that the race itself doesn't start until 8pm local time.

Ahead of FP1 several teams did their mandatory 'show and tell' with senior engineers. We have a few stories eventuating from that, currently baking in the oven...

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Esteban Ocon back out on the same set of hard-compound tyres.

George Russell now atop the timesheet on 1m29.674s, which he set during a 7-lap run on the mediums. He's back in the garage.

Oscar Piastri also reporting contact with the wall. Just a gentle touch, though (and we refer not to a 1980s TV detective drama starring Jill Gascoine).

Oliver Bearman locks up at the final corner and his front-right wheel kisses the outside wall. That was the end of his fifth lap on the hard tyres. He doesn't duck into the pits immediately but, as we speak/type, he returns and the car is pushed into the garage. The mechanics immediately swarm around that front-right corner.

Interesting split in the run plans developing already as the majority of the field are circulating on Pirelli's mediums while Carlos Sainz, Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon are out on hards. Scratch that - Ocon has pitted after just two laps without putting a time on the board.

Currently Lando Norris is fastest on 1m20.454s but it's early days yet - pole last year was 1m27.472s. This track doesn't see much use during the year so expect it to evolve considerably as the weekend develops.

On the subject of Max, former Mercedes strategy boss James Vowles, now team principal at Williams, has been speaking his brains on one of the rumours circulating the paddock. He thinks moving to Mercedes wouldn't be a good idea...

Red Bull and Max Verstappen have been under scrutiny over the past few races as Max followed up a sensational win in Suzuka with a very disappointing showing in Bahrain. That race was marred by balance problems on both cars, pitlane woes caused by a crossed wire in the pit gantry making the 'traffic light' go haywire, and rotten pace on the hard-compound tyre.

Senior heads at the team conducted a pow-wow afterwards and Christian Horner blamed Red Bull's antiquated windtunnel for a lack of correlation between simulation and track performance. But Max disagreed yesterday - signs of another schism, do we think?

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Giuseppe Cacace - AFP - Getty Images

WELCOME TO LIVE COVERAGE OF FP1 IN JEDDAH

It's the final round of this year's first triple-header – but the fast, flowing Jeddah Corniche circuit is no place for the fatigued. A fascinating weekend is in prospect as McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull introduce performance upgrades to their cars. But, given this track's reputation as a car muncher, how many spares do they have?

McLaren MCL39, technical detail

Photo by: Filip Cleeren