Summary

  • World champion Max Verstappen on pole position for first race of 2023

  • Second Red Bull of Sergio Perez in P2, Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz P3 & P4

  • Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso P5 despite topping two practice sessions

  • George Russell P6, Lewis Hamilton P7, Lance Stroll P8, Esteban Ocon P9, Nico Hulkenberg P10

  • Eliminated in Q2: Norris, Bottas, Zhou, Tsunoda, Albon

  • Eliminated in Q1: Sargeant, Magnussen, Piastri, De Vries, Gasly

  • Get involved via #bbcf1

  • Use audio icon at top of the page to listen to BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra commentary

Live Reporting

Lorraine McKenna

  1. Purple sector one for the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll. Can he continue that speedy form throughout the rest of the lap?

    He can. The Canadian goes above his team-mate Fernando Alonso with a 1:32.919 on some soft rubber to lead the field.

  2. Get Involved

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    David: I guess it's a fine line. You don't want an injured driver causing a crash, so it's getting the balance right.

  3. 'Stroll was impressive, without testing'

    Andrew Benson
    BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

    There are various tests in Formula 1 - you have to be able to get out of the car in five second, but it took Lance Stroll two goes to do it. There are all manner of things that happen to drivers where they have to drive in discomfort.

    It is what drivers do. We don't know exactly what Stroll did to his wrists and I heard today that the FIA doctor had looked at them and couldn't believe the quality that had gone into his wrists with the pins.

    Given that is the circumstance he is in and to be half a second behind Alonso, without having done testing - it is impressive.

  4. Lance Stroll has dropped out of the top 10 and is running in 12th position on the timesheets having completed seven laps of the Sakhir circuit.

  5. 'Stroll will have to play second fiddle, could ruffle feathers'

    Sam Bird
    Formula E driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

    To be honest nobody is quite as relentless as Fernando Alonso in and out of the car. He is very demanding of the people he works with, so I think it will be difficult for Lance Stroll and he will have to play second fiddle against one of the greatest of all time,

    If he gets to a position where he is getting trounced all the time, it could ruffle some feathers with the Strolls.

  6. The pink of Alpine of Pierre Gasly needs some TLC from the French team. "Too much understeer," says the former Alpha Tauri man. "I need more front."

  7. More information for the Red Bull crew to digest as Max Verstappen says the RB19 feels unstable. The Dutchman then finds the Haas of Kevin Magnussen blocking his route and has to back off.

  8. Top five

    1. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) - 1:33.121 (soft)

    2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +0.374 (soft)

    3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +0.402 (soft)

    4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.446 (soft)

    5. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.583 (hard)

  9. "No grip. No grip," Max Verstappen tells his Red Bull pit wall. The two-time world champion is putting the hard tyres through their paces and his engineer says they'll "try again."

  10. The top 10 has also welcomed in the likes of Esteban Ocon in the Alpine and the Williams of Alex Albon. Sergio Perez has just snuck in with the fast runners with a 1:34.049.

  11. George Russell takes a detour off the track to avoid some traffic in the path of his Mercedes.

    The hard tyres on bolted on for Red Bull and Max Verstappen settles into fifth place with a 1:33.704. His engineer then comes over the team radio to keep the reigning world champion informed on Fernando Alonso's marker on the soft compounds.

  12. Fernando Alonso finishes his lap and shoots up the timesheets, pushing the likes of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and the two Ferrari boys down the pecking order to go quickest with a 1:33.121 on the softs.

  13. A different El Plan over at Red Bull for third practice, meanwhile, as Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez emerge from the garage on hard tyres.

  14. I asked yesterday if you thought Fernando Alonso could secure a podium for Aston Martin this weekend and the overwhelming majority of you gave that question a big left thumb up.

    Here comes the two-time world champion on the red rubber...

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    Anil: Spent a decade waiting for Alonso to have a competitive seat. Went into the weekend hoping for p5 but now I'd almost be disappointed if he did finish on the podium!

  16. Lance Stroll, nursing that injured wrist, puts in a decent first marker in the Aston Martin to go fifth on the leaderboard. Star of Friday's practice sessions, Fernando Alonso, has yet to come out to play today.

  17. Top five

    1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 1:33.508 (soft)

    2. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +0.015 (soft)

    3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.066 (soft)

    4. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.594 (soft)

    5. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +0.660 (soft)

  18. 'Mercedes need to start looking at people in their roles'

    Sam Bird
    Formula E driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

    You do need to start looking at people in their roles, and the philosophies that Mercedes have gone with their aerodynamics, geometry and design.

    It's clearly not working now and it is a question of unpicking it and going down a similar path. They can't change - it's not feasible to completely re-design.

    I don't think there's a short-term fix.

  19. Mercedes are not one and two on the board, however, as Charles Leclerc has split Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to slip into second spot. The Ferrari man is also on softs.

  20. Here comes the Mercedes pair.

    George Russell is taking inspiration from his younger racing days with his 2023 helmet - a vivid green number for the 25-year-old.

    Russell briefly went top of the timesheets with a 1:34.102 on the soft tyres but Lewis Hamilton has bettered his team-mate and goes quickest with a 1:33.508 on the same rubber.