Nico Hulkenberg is back out on a used set of medium rubber to continue his run plan, the Haas social media team have just tweeted.

Nyck de Vries is back in the Alpha Tauri garage, normal clothes on, watching the practice action unfold.

"I lost the first shift"

The blond-haired Alex Albon, sixth on the timesheets, is delighted with his first set of runs in the Williams. "It's the best the car has ever felt," Albon tells his team over the radio. Can't ask for better feedback than that.

1. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) - 1:29.417 (soft)

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.132 (hard)

3. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +0.518 (soft)

4. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +0.664 (soft)

5. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.676 (soft)

Jack Nicholls
BBC Radio 5 Live F1 commentator

A tenth of a second down on Sergio Perez's time but still finding time on these soft tyres, George Russell, that are eight laps old now.

Rookie Oscar Piastri has experienced the Jeddah track during his Formula 2 days but the Australian driver almost waves goodbye to his FP3 session as his McLaren flirts dangerous with the walls.

Lewis Hamilton raises his hand as he gets stuck in traffic trying to navigate the scary 27-corner circuit. The seven-time world champion is on the C4 red rubber and is sitting in seventh place on the timesheets.

"I'm getting a lot of derating."

Max Verstappen's fastest time was set on the hard compounds but his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez is on some used soft rubber. The Mexican is more than a match for his world champion buddy and is the new leader of the pack with a 1:29.417.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Ferrari need to play it safe really because it's not a good start to the season for them at all, to be making such big changes and to be having those penalties so early on when we've got a long way left to go. Your flat out for 70% of this lap, so those poor little engines are going to be screaming their heads off.

The other Alpine of Esteban Ocon is also sitting in the top five on some soft rubber.

That stay at the top for the black Mercedes doesn't last long as Pierre Gasly, finding his feet with his new team Alpine, puts in a time of 1:30.161 on the soft tyres.

But here comes Max Verstappen on some white-banded hard tyres, to beat the Frenchman and lower the time into the 1:29s. The Dutchman is nearly three tenths quicker than Gasly.

Mercedes have opted for the C4 soft tyres for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell and the pair instantly go top of the timesheets. Russell is the slightly quicker of the two with a 1:30.476.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

This circuit is one that I would love to drive, street circuits people have different views but I love these circuits, ones that aren't forgiving, nothing against Paul Ricard, but I just love circuits like this. If you make a mistake you are in the wall, in the gravel, in the barrier, I think we should have more of these circuits.

Here we go. More cars on track now after the usual slow start to a third practice outing.

The two Alpine drivers are on the softs, Max Verstappen is on a hard, the Haas lads have the mediums bolted on.

Missing valuable running time before a qualifying session on this rapid street circuit is not what Nyck de Vries needed.

Jack Nicholls
BBC Radio 5 Live F1 commentator

They are changing De Vries' power unit so they won't be participating in Free Practise 3, so that's a shame for the Dutchman.

The camera is zoomed in close on Charles Leclerc as he waits patiently to be given the thumbs up by Ferrari. The 25-year-old has got a strenuous shift ahead of him tomorrow with that 10-place grid penalty. He qualified second on the grid in 2022 and was beaten by Max Verstappen in an intense race-long battle the following day in Jeddah.

Pirelli have selected tyres from the middle of the range, the same as last year, for this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

In 2022, the C4 tyres were not used during the race but on Friday, the red softs were given some action in both the first and second practice sessions.

The two quickest times of the day, set by Max Verstappen in the heat of the Jeddah sun and as temperatures cooled under the floodlights, were set on the softest rubber available.

Image source, Pirelli Motorsport Twitter

Lance Stroll is back to the pits after one lap on the mediums and changes to the hard tyres. Fernando Alonso follows his Canadian team-mate in and swaps to the white compounds too.