Eighteen laps were wiped out during third practice for going over track limits.

Any mistake from now on could be the difference between starting at the front, or the back.

Image source, Getty Images

The current F1 season may be long - but in 1962, it did not finish until after Christmas.

The first South African Grand Prix, held at the Prince George circuit in East London, was on 29 December 1962. First practice was on Boxing Day.

However, unlike today’s packed 23-race calendar, this was only the ninth Grand Prix of the season - and it was taking place nearly three months after the previous US Grand Prix had finished with a result that set South Africa up for a fantastic title-deciding showdown.

Just like the first Formula 1 race in Africa the second one was also the climactic end to a Grand Prix with two British drivers contesting the title to see who would take it for the first time.

Click here to read more about the first South African Grand Prix, and the nail-biting title showdown between Graham Hill and Jim Clark.

Four of the 10 teams left Bahrain empty handed. What can Williams, Haas, Alpine and Alfa Romeo do here?

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We're hoping to have 23 races in 2021 and this is how it stands after the first of them...

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Lewis Hamilton says his battle with Max Verstappen for this year's drivers' title does not yet live up to his rivalry with Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton said he was "excited" by the challenge posed by Red Bull but that 2017 and 2018 against Vettel at Ferrari were the favourite years of his career.

"Racing with Max, he doesn't have the background Seb has," Hamilton said. "Max has the chance of being a future champion. Whether that's now or later depends on the job the team and I do."

Hamilton, who was sitting alongside Vettel in a new format of news conference before the second race of the season at Imola, explained why he held his fights with the German, who has won four titles, in such high regard.

"Knowing how hard it is to be where we are today," he said. "Knowing I was racing against an incredible driver, and not only that but a great man. And as we were racing against another team who were very strong at the time.

"It took a lot out of both of us to remain focused and deliver weekend in, weekend out. It was a difficult period but it brought us closer because the respect we have between us is huge. It is different now."

It could well be another battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, with the Dutchman taking pole at Bahrain, although Hamilton then won the race.

And the seven-time world champion had some very interesting comments about his rivalry with Verstappen on Thursday...

Who will get themselves on pole?

We will find out in the next two hours.

Time for a quick break and we'll be back at 12:30 BST before qualifying at 13:00.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, EPA

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set an impressive pace in final practice at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The Dutchman was nearly 0.5 seconds quicker than McLaren’s Lando Norris in second place, with Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes a further 0.1secs behind in third.

The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez was fourth, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly.

Hamilton’s position behind the eye-catching Norris suggests there is plenty more to come from Mercedes, who look set for a close fight with Verstappen for pole when qualifying starts at 13:00 BST.

As on Friday, a number of drivers lost lap times for running too wide on the exit of the Piratella, a challenging downhill left-hander and the fastest corner on the track.

And Nicholas Latifi, who has had the strongest weekend of his career so far, damaged his front wing with an off at the Villeneuve chicane.

The Canadian was able to rejoin the track later in the session and ended up just 0.1secs slower than team-mate George Russell, with the two Williams cars in 15th and 17th places.

Aston Martin continued to struggle, with Lance Stroll 12th and Sebastian Vettel down in 14th.

The top eight are all within a second of each other.

Image source, F1

Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

Daniel Ricciardo is a slight mystery from that session. McLaren are looking good with Lando Norris but Ricciardo not quite looking as hooked up.

I do expect all the margins to get narrower through qualifying. I still think Mercedes have got more to offer and Max Verstappen can still show what Red Bull have to offer.

I think we're looking at a Mercedes versus Verstappen shootout for pole position. But, I'm enjoying how tight it is and the rest of the field...it's anyone's guess.

He had a frustrating Friday, but a great start to his Saturday for Max Verstappen as he's the quickest man in the session, by nearly half a second.

Lando Norris is second, then Lewis Hamilton.

The rest of the top 10 is made up by Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz, Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon.

Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

I wonder if Antonio Giovinazzi's tyres have been stuck in the blankets and then put back on the car? He'll need to maybe come back in and do a pit lane start or something.

No temperature in the tyres at all. He was just cruising into Turn One then into Turn Two - the right-hander - and just lost control of the front end.

When these tyres aren't up to temperature on a Formula 1 car, you can look stupid really quickly and that's basically what happened to Giovinazzi there.

Antonio Giovinazzi is facing the wrong way around. He's down in 16th, with Kimi Raikkonen 18th.

Once again Nikita Mazepin is looking out of his depth. He is six tenths worse off than team-mate Mick Schumacher and most definitely last.

Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

Very sharp front end from Max Verstappen. Right on the edge of too much oversteer - particularly into that first Rivazza corner - Verstappen had to correct the front of the car and just about kept it out of the gravel and he's able to do the fastest third sector. He's able to dart that car right on the edge of oversteer.

A superb lap from Max Verstappen and he's top - and by a huge distance.

That's a lap of 1:14.958 and that is nearly half a second clear of Lando Norris.

A drive shaft problem ruined the Dutchman's second session but his team have worked wonders to fix that and give Verstappen the tools he needs.

Alianora La Canta: Track limits started to be a major issue when the FIA decided to stop making the white line the only factor. This actually pre-dates to Spa 2008, but complaints about increasing the ambiguity have led to increasingly ambiguous track limits rules. Cycle perpetuates.

James: Perhaps I’m in the minority, but I’m loving how punishing Imola is being to the drivers! For the first time in a long time it actually feels like skill is the most decisive factor.

Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

While the field is still tight now - and yes, Mercedes and Red Bull will find that little bit more in qualifying - Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari was only a tenth slower than Valtteri Bottas in Bahrain qualifying. Pierre Gasly in the Alpha Tauri was only two or three tenths away from Bottas.

The field isn't that spread out. Still, you're backing Mercedes and Red Bull to be right there but the field is undoubtedly closing up this year. And we're seeing more teams there.

Kimi Raikkonen goes through the gravel.

By the way, we have five different teams in the top five spots - McLaren (Norris), Mercedes (Hamilton), Ferrari (Leclerc), Alpha Tauri (Gasly), Red Bull (Verstappen).

Qualifying is at 13:00 BST. It's going to be interesting.