"The F1 writer was too stunned to speak."

Ferrari, meanwhile, are trying to get a sneaky lap on the board in the dying moments of this session. Charles Leclerc goes from 11th to sixth, while Carlos Sainz stays in 10th spot.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Alonso is third and he's a second slower than Verstappen, I'm speechless.

"What is this guy doing man," says Zhou Guanyu to his Alfa Romeo team as Yuki Tsunoda comes up on the inside during his hit lap.

"My seat is so hot."

Hot laps are on the menu now and Charles Leclerc is ready to order. Soft tyres are bolted on to the red car as he tries to chase down Max Verstappen's new top time of 1:28.485.

But is this really a fast attempt by the Monegasque driver? Nope. Leclerc goes 10th, but then is pushed down to 11th by team-mate Carlos Sainz, after a scrappy lap.

The good news for Lando Norris following is nervy moment with Max Verstappen is that he's into the top six with a time of 1:29.690 on the soft tyres. His McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri is one place behind in seventh with five minutes to go.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

It's such a fast circuit, cars approach so quickly, the teams really need to be on top of the GPS that they will have in front of them on the pit wall and in the garage to make sure we don't have any accidents.

Times are coming down along with the temperatures in Jeddah. The two Aston Martins are running in the top four, Alonso being the quicker of the two.

No further investigation necessary is the stewards' verdict on that Max Verstappen and Lando Norris incident.

"It's dangerous what these guys are doing, it could've been a massive crash."

Max Verstappen may have just gone quickest but he now has to apologise to the McLaren of Lando Norris after the pair almost collide. The incident has been noted by race control for blocking Norris.

Liam Donoghue: Max almost at the top of the times on the hard tyres compared to everyone else on the softs. The Red Bull is just a league ahead of the rest.

A car has reached the 1:28s.

I'll give you three guesses as to who it is.

You'll only need one.

Max Verstappen tops the timesheets on his soft run with a 1:28.756, three tenths faster than his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez.

The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton is pushing on a set of soft tyres but is still down on the pace set by Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen. The seven-time world champion goes third quickest, above the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.

Jack Nicholls
BBC Radio 5 Live F1 commentator

Hamilton is only a tenth down on Perez after the first two thirds of the lap which is a bit more encouraging for Hamilton, him and Kevin Magnussen are the only two drivers improving on the circuit at the moment.

Who needs a wing mirror? Sergio Perez improves on his previous quickest time and hits a 1:29.127 to stay top.

"My right wing mirror keeps coming down"

The tyre blankets are waiting to come off over at Red Bull. Max Verstappen is sat in the cockpit watching team-mate and session leader Sergio Perez continue his plan on some soft tyres.

Jack Nicholls
BBC Radio 5 Live F1 commentator

Gasly is on a push lap and he is going quickly, his middle sector is pretty strong, just a little less than a tenth slower than Sergio Perez who is on the quickest time so far.

That list of concerns is growing for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari.

Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon takes a huge chunk of kerb in his Alpine at what looks like the exit of Turn Nine and almost hits the wall on the opposite side.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

He (Leclerc) was having problems with his shifts in his practise starts yesterday. It's another one to add to the list.