Max Verstappen puts a firm point: Red Bull moved to the top of the timesheet in the third free practice session of the Saudi Arabian GP when the Dutchman decided to simulate qualifying. Max set a 1'28″412 with the reds which seemed sensational, but which in the end was only 73 thousandths faster than last year's time. It's true that there were 42 degrees on the asphalt and 27 degrees air, conditions that will not be found when we get serious in qualifying.
The three-time world champion gave almost half a second to his teammate who is third: Sergio Perez seems to like the track where he was at the pole last year, but he has made up a significant gap. Charles Leclerc took advantage of this and was an excellent second with Ferrari. The Monegasque arrived within 196 thousandths of Verstappen, retaining the most powerful wing also used in yesterday's free practice. The red car pays something in terms of top speed to the RB20, but seems to be in contention for pole position.
Ferrari made Oliver Bearman debut in place of Carlos Sainz who ended up in hospital with an attack of appendicitis which will force him to undergo surgery. The Englishman, 18 years old, gave up pole in F2 to drive the SF-24 and the third Ferrari driver, who has never driven the SF-24 on the track but only on the simulator, made his mark by deserving a tenth position with just one attempt on the soft tyres: nine tenths of a gap was on the cards. With the yellows he carried out a mini long run with an interesting pace, while he seemed immature in the pit stop attempt.
Mercedes is far away: George Russell is fourth ahead of Lando Norris with McLaren. The half second of the two does not leave much hope for the late afternoon, even if Lando played a bit of pre-tactical by returning to the pit lane in laps in which he was very fast.
Hamilton continues to disappoint, only ninth, preceded by the two Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll and the other MCL38 of Oscar Piastri. Lewis chose to return to the more loaded Bahrain-type wing, following the choices made by Ferrari.
Outside the top 10 we find Kevin Magnussen with the Haas one second away, while Nico Hulkenberg suffered more with the other VF-24 and is only 15th. The Alpine team is recovering: Pierre Gasly is 12th, while Esteban Ocon is 14th. Among the Enstone cars was Yuki Tsunoda with the Racing Bulls. The Japanese proved to be more consistent than Danaiel RIcciardo in the flying lap: the Australian was only 16th, ahead of the best Williams, that of Alexander Albon.
Sauber not doing well: Valtteri Bottas looked for an immediate performance so he finished 18th, just ahead of his teammate Guanyu Zhou who caused the red flag 17 minutes before the checkered flag: the Chinese lost the Sauber in the turn 7 recall while he was launching into the first lap like the soft tyres. Zhou tried to regain control of the car after having attacked the inside curb too much and the C44 started to oversteer before hitting the right rear and then the left front near turn 8. The Asian did not suffer any physical damage and the car crashed into the rubber protections so it does not appear to have suffered irreparable damage (will the transmission need to be changed?) and the mechanics will try to send Guanyu onto the track in qualifying.
Last is Logan Sargent without time: the American tore the front left suspension of the Williams FW46 already during the second lap, touching the same barrier that had hit Lance Stroll yesterday: the Grove mechanics are working hard to allow the driver to compete for the grid in qualifying.
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