Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty Images

Another team facing the reality that their car is not where they expected it to be are Alpha Tauri, whose team principal Franz Tost expressed his frustration in a news conference between the sessions on Friday.

"The engineers tell me we make some good progress but I don't trust them anymore, I just want to see the lap time because this is the only thing that counts," Tost said.

"Because during the winter months they told me: 'The car is fantastic, [we] made big progress' then we came to Bahrain and we are nowhere.

"There's not enough downforce therefore the car is unstable under braking, and overheats the rear tyres. Washing out at the apex, then [hurts] traction. Everything that you need to do a good lap time."

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

If Fernando Alonso gets another podium this weekend he will be the sixth driver in F1 history to get 100 podiums.

First introduced on the F1 calendar in 2021, this rapid test is the fastest street track the sport has ever seen and also throws in a demanding 27 corners for good measure.

Lewis Hamilton was the inaugural winner two years ago and Max Verstappen beat out Charles Leclerc for victory at last year's event.

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

The Jeddah Corniche Circuit has gone through a few safety modifications for this year's grand prix, with things like visibility at some corners improved and fence placement adjusted, but the 6.174km track still holds a slight fear factor for some drivers.

Mick Schumacher had to be air-lifted to hospital for precautionary checks in 2022 after the Haas driver pushed too hard in Q2 through the fast swerves for Turns Eight and Nine, caught the kerb, spun and smashed into the wall.

Schumacher had to sit out the following day's race after the team withdrew his car.

"I could do another 1,000 laps and I could never beat this lap time," Sergio Perez said after qualifying at the front of the grid a year ago in Saudi Arabia.

Matthew at 16:22 has decided to shake the bag and put Perez pole today.

Do you agree?

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Sergio Perez put in what he called the lap of his life to secure his maiden pole position in Formula 1 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last year.

The Mexican was 0.261 seconds quicker than Red Bull team-mate Verstappen, who was down in fourth.

Charles Leclerc was second and congratulated Perez on an "incredible job" but also said he "definitely did not expect that lap time Checo".

Leclerc's Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz was third, while Lewis Hamilton had his worst competitive showing in qualifying since 2009 in managing only 16th place.

Image source, Getty Images

The future of some drivers has been the topic of speculation lately but we won't be seeing any dramatic changes to the grid, according to Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.

We mentioned Hamilton earlier after boss Toto Wolff said the 38-year-old could consider leaving if he doesn't get a competitive car, but the seven-time world champion said this week he still has "100% belief in this team" and doesn't "plan on going anywhere else".

Norris, who signed a contract extension with McLaren until 2025 last year, rubbished claims the team is in crisis and said rumours he might leave were a word that begins with 'bull'.

Over at Ferrari, Leclerc told Sky Italia his commitment to the Scuderia is in no doubt after whisperings emerged of a possible switch with Hamilton.

Leclerc said: "I’m in red and I think it’s quite obvious how much I love Ferrari and how much I want to win with Ferrari."

Matthew Murnaghan: No Contest, Red Bull take pole. But Perez instead of Verstappen, shake things up a bit.

Image source, Getty Images

Does Lewis Hamilton feel closer to Red Bull than he was last year? "No".

So does that mean he thinks the gap to the constructors' champions is now greater? "Yes".

The seven-time title winner said after finishing fifth at the Bahrain Grand Prix that the team didn't listen to his concerns about the 2023 car but despite this, Hamilton still thinks he can add to his tally of F1 victories this year.

"I will win again," said the 38-year-old. "It's just going to take some time."

Hamilton's last race win was in Saudi Arabia 18 months ago - the 103rd of his successful career.

He added: "In 2021 when we were here, we were hoping to be fighting for another world championship. You never know what's up ahead.

"It's how you continue to remain positive and tackle the issues that you are faced with. That's where my energy is going into and what every single person in the team is focused on."

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty Images

Mercedes spent the time between the first race in Bahrain and this weekend's event in Jeddah in meetings trying to work out a new development direction for their car.

Team principal Toto Wolff said: "We're, overall, not happy about the amount of downforce, the mechanical balance. All of it. It never comes alone.

"All these meetings are giving us clarity and more focus on where we need to tackle in order to turn this around quick."

Wolff expanded on his admission at the first race that the team had made a mistake in pursuing the design direction they chose last year rather than switching to the one pursued by all other teams.

"At a certain stage, we came to the conclusion that we got it wrong.

"Why we got it wrong, we're still analysing because we followed data and we followed what simulations tell us and in that case, we were misguided by what those data showed.

"All of us involved in the decision-making process came to the conclusion that we can't continue that way."

Will Max Verstappen seal another pole position today?

Can you see any shocks on the cards? at the front of the grid and between the midfield runners?

Let us know your thoughts using the hashtag #BBCF1 on Twitter.

The gap between two-time world champion Max Verstappen and the rest of the field is a hefty one, but a slight silver lining for drivers, if you don't look at the race result, might be that the Dutchman only qualified in fourth at last year's event.

Nyck de Vries failed to register a time earlier after Alpha Tauri detected an issue on the Dutchman's car and had to change the power unit.

Image source, Formula 1 Twitter

Hello again, folks. The Saturday big one is coming up at 17:00 GMT.

There were a few nerve-wracking moments for a couple of drivers during second practice but so far this weekend, no car has been badly bruised by the Saudi walls.

Full commentary of qualifying is online-only and available to listen to via the audio icon at the top of this page from 16:55 GMT.

Jack Nicholls is joined by British racing driver Alice Powell and BBC Sport's chief F1 writer Andrew Benson.

Image source, Getty Images

Have any teams been holding back some extra pace for qualifying?

Will Red Bull lockout the front row in Jeddah like they did in Bahrain?

Can Fernando Alonso put the Aston Martin on pole position?

And which driver will be first on the radio with a few choice words about the traffic?

You have to be brave around this track. Qualifying is an hour away...

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen looks a sure-fire bet for pole position at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after dominating final practice at the Jeddah street track.

The world champion was 0.613 seconds ahead of Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, while Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin in third was 0.998secs adrift.

Alonso’s team-mate Lance Stroll was fourth, ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.

McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were seventh and eighth.

On the face of it, Red Bull look even more out of reach of their rivals than they were at the first race of the season in Bahrain two weeks ago.

The key question before qualifying is which team out of Aston Martin, Mercedes and Ferrari will come out on top behind Red Bull.

What odds would you get for a Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso top three later on?

We're going to park the page for a short time and the come back at 16:00 GMT to build up to Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying.

Enjoy your break and see you in a bit.

11. George Russell (Mercedes)

12. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)

13. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

14. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

15. Alex Albon (Williams)

16. Logan Sargeant (Williams)

17. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

18. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)

19. Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri)

20. Nyck de Vries (Alpha Tauri)

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

When we saw his (Verstappen's) time on the hard tyre, that's when we knew this guy has really got it, he had a stomach bug so he wasn't on the track on Thursday but clearly he's got over that now because his time on hard tyres was so impressive, six tenths ahead of his teammate, way clear of the field at the moment is Red Bull.

Below the top three...

The other Aston Martin of Lance Stroll is fourth, Lewis Hamilton is fifth, Charles Leclerc, with a 10-place grid drop, is sixth.

Then it's the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in seventh and eighth, Pierre Gasly finishes in ninth and Carlos Sainz puts his Ferrari in 10th position.