The TV cameras are now following Oscar Piastri. Three points separate the Australian and leader Lando Norris in the drivers' championship after last weekend's race in Bahrain, but he ends up aborting this lap and stays second on the leaderboard.

Yuki Tsunoda moves to fourth on his soft run but we have a new leader. It's a papaya car, but this time it's Lando Norris who goes to the top of the timesheets. The Briton has found 0.090 seconds on his team-mate Oscar Piastri.

A couple of cool down laps for Norris, before he goes again.

This is a thrill ride for the drivers, with speeds in Jeddah second only to those at Monza. Oscar Piastri completes his flyer without tapping any walls and goes quickest with a 1:28.430 on the softs.

Rookie Isack Hadjack is going a lot faster here than in an F2 car. The Frenchman tells his Racing Bulls pit wall he had a bad hit on the exit of Turn Four, so check the floor.

Times don't last long when the push laps come out. Max Verstappen, winner here in 2022 and last season, betters the time offered up by Carlos Sainz by 0.395 seconds. The four-time world champion's time to beat is a 1:28.547.

Carlos Sainz was the only car not to finish the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Spaniard sustaining damage to his Williams after an on-track battle with the Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda. He can cross the line today, though, and he goes fastest with a 1:28.942 on his soft run.

George Russell is the man to beat, although Charles Leclerc has also swapped the mediums for the softs, but the Mercedes driver informs his pit wall he has got a bit of high-speed bouncing.

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has been a Red Bull track since its first appearance on the calendar in 2021, so is this Yuki Tsunoda's best shot at making the podium for his new team?

Over at Mercedes, George Russell opts for the softs and the Briton goes quickest, 0.029 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc's Ferrari.

1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 1:29.002

2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.138

3. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.270

4. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) +0.415

5. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +0.520, soft tyre

Stop the press. McLaren have competition. Charles Leclerc is able to pull 0.138 seconds out of his Ferrari and move above Oscar Piastri to sit top of the timesheets.

Leclerc, Piastri and Lando Norris are the three fastest so far on the medium tyre.

Image source, Reuters

Last week's winner in Sakhir is back on top. Oscar Piastri improves his lap time, the majority of his good work coming in the final sector, to go above Lando Norris with a 1:29.140 on the mediums.

Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, has a message for Alpine: Check the brakes.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

This might be the wrong impression because it's still early doors but it feels to me that Lando Norris is a little bit more comfortable this weekend compared to the past two weekends. He's been consistently there all the time and we have not heard any complaints on the radio yet.

I saw a video of someone saying Oscar Piastri had a very functional haircut before the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Nothing wrong with that.

The Australian crosses the line and goes second behind his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris.

The gap between the pair is just 0.001 second.

A replay of Piatstri trying to get put of the very tight pit lane shows the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg getting in his way.

Harry Benjamin
BBC F1 Commentator

Oscar Piastri has got a touch of the Kimi Raikkonens, the ice coolness about him.

Image source, Reuters

Lewis Hamilton is the next driver to find the Saudi traffic a pain. The Ferrari man comes across the Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda and does just enough to avoid any drama.

What can Ferrari do this weekend? A podium place, maybe? Charles Leclerc separates the McLaren and Red Bull and goes second quickest with a 1:29.477 on the mediums.

Lance Stroll dives to the safety of the run-off area around Turns One and Two. A rear lock-up sees the Aston Martin driver slide across the track, before coming to a stop.

Meanwhile, traffic issues make Alex Albon say "dangerous" (and a naughty word) on the team radio. A Ferrari was unaware the Williams was coming up behind on a fast lap.

The Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli arrives hot at Turn One and locks up. Someone check those medium tyres. Lando Norris finishes his first quick lap on the yellow compound and goes top, above rival Max Verstappen, with a 1:29.272. The second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda is third.

Abbi Pulling
F1 Academy champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

It's like driving through a tunnel. You are so hyper-focused and everything is going past you so quickly. It's a feeling like no other driving this circuit, especially the fact the corners are blind and you don't know what is coming up, like someone on a cool lap lurking behind the wall that you can't see through.

Carlos Sainz has scrubbed his softs and now returns to the pits to be fitted with some medium tyres.

Over at Haas, Oliver Bearman, who made his F1 debut here last year sitting in for Sainz, puts the first time on the board with a 1:31.055 on the mediums.

In the team principal news conference during the break, Aston Martin boss Andy Cowell was quizzed on whether Max Verstappen would be on the radar for the 2026 season.

"It's normal for the media to speculate on the driver market," he said. "But we have an amazing line-up, that we are committed to, who are under contract for 2026 and beyond."

Yesterday, Fernando Alonso answered "yes" when asked if he would like the four-time world champion as a team-mate. But the chance of that happening is slim to none, added the Spaniard.

Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto will be missing out on vital running under the floodlights. This is the only practice session that takes place at the same time as tomorrow's qualifying session and Sunday's race start.

Alex Albon has put the hard tyres on first in the Williams while his team-mate Carlos Sainz goes for a soft trip straight out of the FP2 gate.