This session has finished. No further updates will be posted.
Here’s our report on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and the results and points as they stand.
Leclerc clings on for third ahead of Norris. Full report coming up soon.
Oscar Piastri wins round five! Max Verstappen is second and won’t be happy at all about that penalty.
The last lap begins with Piastri two-and-a-half seconds ahead of Verstappen, then Leclerc just 1.3s clear of Norris.
Norris is giving it hell for leather over these final laps and has got Leclerc’s lead under two seconds.
The stewards are no longer investigating Norris. However with six laps to go he looks unlikely to catch Leclerc for the final podium place, there’s three seconds between them.
Problem for Norris? He’s under investigation for potentially crossing the white line at the pit exit.
Leclerc has got past Russell for third place and now Norris cruises past him with DRS.
Williams tell Sainz to let Albon past so Albon can give him the benefit of DRS as they both try to keep Hadjar behind. Ambitious.
Lawson gets a 10 second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage – Verstappen should be relieved his penalty wasn’t as severe as that.
L35 McLaren not risking Norris interfering with Piastri’s race. They call him in, he locks up as he slows for the speed limit line, takes a set of mediums and heads off.
L33 Piastri says he’s “starting to feel the dirty air” from Norris.
Leclerc pits and resumes in fifth place on a set of hards. Now how long will Norris continue in the lead? He has Piastri 2.7s behind him.
L29 Leclerc still leading on his mediums with Norris in second yet to pit. Could Norris even go far enough to make the softs a possibility?
A near-miss between Gabriel Bortoleto and his rival – and manager – Fernando Alonso. Bortoleto was moving back towards the racing line approaching turn one after losing a position. “That was so close,” remarks Alonso. “Check the car.”
L23 Verstappen loses a lot of time behind Hamilton after rejoining the track. Hamilton pits.
L22 It’s not enough for Verstappen, though – Piastri is comfortably into the net lead. Leclerc holds the actual lead, still on his mediums, pursued by Norris on hards.
Piastri has caught Hamilton which may be what Red Bull were playing for. He passes him approaching turn 22. Verstappen pits.
Verstappen stays out. Piastri was two-tenths of a second faster in the middle sector. Have Red Bull decided to gamble on a Safety Car?
L20 Piastri pits, he was over two seconds behind Verstappen and loses a little time while stationary, in his box for 3.4 seconds.
Norris passes Antonelli.
L15 Norris passes Hamilton on the pit straight with DRS for sixth place. He’s now got a few seconds of clear air between him and Antonelli. That pass may have just prevented Verstappen from getting a pit stop gap over the second McLaren.
L14 Again, Norris uses DRS to pass Hamilton approaching turn 27, Hamilton uses DRS to pass Norris as they come out of the corner.
L13 Norris uses DRS to pass Hamilton approaching turn 27, Hamilton uses DRS to pass Norris as they come out of the corner.
L12 Piastri has closed to well within a second of Verstappen.
Tsunoda has joined Gasly in retirement. The pair will be investigated after the race.
Verstappen already had the most penalty points of any driver, with eight, so if he gets more for that incident he’ll edge even closer to an automatic ban, which happens at 12 points.
Isack Hadjar has got ahead of Fernando Alonso for 10th place.
The stewards have also noted the Tsunoda-Gasly incident for “causing a collision.”
Verstappen has been given a five-second time penalty for laving the track and gaining an advantage.
Safety Car coming in.
Piastri: “He was never going to make that corner regardless of whether I was there or not.”
Verstappen: “He forced me off. There was no intention of making that corner.”
Gasly is out of the race but Tsunoda has managed to get going again.
Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly have crashed. Safety Car deployed.
The race is go in Jeddah! Max Verstappen goes off the track at turn one to keep his lead ahead of Oscar Piastri.
The drivers head off on their formation laps.
So Norris clearly angling for the ‘undercut’ strategy and may have to just stick it out if there’s an early Safety Car period like last year.
The drivers’ tyre choices for the start of the race are as follows: Everyone on mediums except Norris, Hadjar, Stroll and Hulkenberg on hards.
How long does it take to make a pit stop? What strategies are teams likely to use? Find all the decision-making strategy data for the race here.
Adami: “We believe you were in ‘charge’, the reason for it.”
Lewis Hamilton: “I just lost quite a bit of power coming out of turn 22.” Adami: “Understood.”
Max Verstappen stands to take the lead of the drivers’ championship if they finish where they start today. A win will put him on 94 points, two ahead of Oscar Piastri if the McLaren driver finishes second. How much can Lando Norris do to limit the damage from 10th place on the grid?
In this race last year Haas used had Magnussen to hold the field up and help Hulkenberg score a point with their other car. Will we see any similarly unorthodox strategies today at a track where overtaking has been difficult in the past?
The drivers are leaving the pits to preform practice starts and reconnaissance laps, and head to the grid.
Lots of changes at McLaren though – specifically, to Lando Norris’s car after his heavy impact with the wall yesterday. Here’s everything they’re replaced on his car:
Gearbox assembly and associated control hydraulics
Left-hand side and right-hand side rear outboard suspension assemblies
Left-hand side and right-hand side rear internal suspension assemblies
Left-hand side and right-hand side rear brake duct assemblies
Left-hand side front outboard suspension assembly
Front torsion bar
Front heave damper
Front anti roll bar and associated drop links
Right-hand side front pullrod
Front wing / nose assembly
Steering column and rack assemblies
Rear wing assembly
Headrest
Front brake friction material
Rear brake friction material
Floor assembly (excluding plank and skids)
Seatbelts and associated chassis mounts
Chassis to nose catch pins
Exhaust tailpipe
Parameter changes associated with the above listed components’ replacement
The FIA has officially confirmed the starting grid for today’s race. There are no changes from yesterday: 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix grid.
We’re one hour away from the start of the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
- Gasly says he left Tsunoda all the room he could to avoid a crash
- Verstappen walks away from post-race interview after penalty for off-track pass
- 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix race result and championship points
- Piastri wins and takes championship lead after penalty for Verstappen
- Rate the race: 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix