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It’s a Formula 1 race week, and that means a simple question these days: can anyone stop Max Verstappen?
With Red Bull embroiled in a storm around team principal Christian Horner, Verstappen would have been forgiven for allowing off-track issues to affect concentration at the opening race of 2024 in Bahrain. If it did, there was little sign of it, the reigning champion storming to a dominant victory from the front of the grid, with teammate Sergio Perez second.
Attention now turns to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia. Fernando Alonso was quickest in Thursday’s FP2 session, suggesting he could be Red Bull’s biggest obstacle in their bid for another front-row lockout. Verstappen went fastest in Saturday’s final practice session, however.
Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, was over 0.8 seconds off the pace and was involved in an incident on Thursday that led to Mercedes being fined after Logan Sargeant had to react extremely quickly on a hot lap to avoid crashing with the slow-running Brit.
Following the news that Carlos Sainz will be unable to take part after being diagnosed with appendicitis, British teenager Oliver Bearman is instead be at the wheel of the Ferrari. He set a creditable 10th-best time in FP3.
The Sporting News will provide live updates from qualifying at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with a complete starting grid for Saturday’s race to follow.
WATCH in US: F1 qualifying with fubo (free trial)
F1 Saudi Arabia qualifying live updates
Q1, 2 mins to go: Zhou is on track! Can he get a lap time in and reach Q2? It would be some achievement. Charles Leclerc is now fastest, 0.173 seconds faster than Verstappen.
Q1, 5 mins to go: Zhou Guanyu has not yet appeared for a lap in this session. His mechanics are frantically trying to get the car ready for a run. Lewis Hamilton’s time puts him ninth, which should — but may not — be enough to keep him out of the elimination zone.
Q1, 8 mins to go: Max Verstappen’s first fast lap… puts him first, and comfortably. Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull is fifth-fastest in this session.
Q1, 10 mins to go: Oscar Piastri sets the first time under 1:28:800, despite clipping the wall on his approach to the home straight! He’ll hope there was no damage sustained there. Bearman clocks the fourth-fastest time, which will likely be enough to get him through to Q2. George Russell, meanwhile, gets black-and-white flagged for not following the guidelines properly when it comes to entering the pit lane here.
📻 “This ****** idiot”
Frustration boils over in the cockpit for Hulk as he gets stuck behind Sargeant 😠#F1 #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/60d8AvUibi
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 8, 2024
Q1, 12 mins to go: Oliver Bearman’s first lap time is around 1:30:000. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll are setting the early pace in the Aston Martins.
Q1, 14 mins to go: Lando Norris is the first man to try a hot lap. My word, the cockpit camera really shows how narrow this track is! You can hear Norris’ McLaren scraping the surface at different points as he throws it around this street circuit. Norris clocks around 1:29:200.
Start of Q1
Here we go!
2 mins to qualifying start: Okay, we’ve got cars appearing on track and music blasting out of the circuit PA system. That can only mean the start is imminent!
20 mins to qualifying start: We’re close to lights out for the start of Q1. Can the likes of Alonso put pressure on Verstappen from the off? The reigning champion was fastest in FP3 by around two tenths of a second.
45 mins to qualifying start: We’ve got a little less than 45 minutes still the start of Q1. The circuit is looking great under the lights in Jeddah — at least, it does now they’ve cleaned up the mess around Zhou’s accident. The Kick Sauber driver walked away from this, thankfully.
A tiny error results in a big impact for Zhou Guanyu in FP3 💥 #F1 #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/uolayCt4fi
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 8, 2024
1 hour 15 mins to qualifying start: Something Ollie Bearman won’t soon forget… he was expecting to be driving in today’s F2 race before getting the call-up from Ferrari.
A special moment for @OllieBearman 🤩#F1 #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/9X52XQ5kRb
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 8, 2024
1 hour 45 mins to qualifying start: Well done, Oliver Bearman! The teenager set the 10th-best time of FP3 earlier today, around eight tenths of a second lower than Verstappen. That’s some performance in your F1 debut! The session was curtailed due to a significant crash involving Zhou Guanyu, who was thankfully unhurt after losing his backend and careering into the wall at Turn Five.
2 hours to qualifying start: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News’ live coverage of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying session. Can anyone stop Max Verstappen this time? Fernando Alonso was quickest in Thursday’s second practice session and will hope to try.
Class of the field in FP2 ⏱️
💪 @alo_oficial #F1 #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/qRSFxyJc8S
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 7, 2024
F1 2024 schedule: What time is Saudi Arabian qualifying?
| UK | USA | Canada | Australia | India | |
| Date | Friday, Mar 8 | Friday, Mar 8 | Friday, Mar 8 | Saturday, Mar 9 | Friday, Mar 8 |
| Time | 5 p.m. GMT | 12 p.m. ET | 12 p.m. ET | 4 a.m. AEDT | 10:30 p.m. IST |
F1 2024 schedule: What time is the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix race?
| UK | USA | Canada | Australia | India | |
| Date | Saturday, Mar 9 | Saturday, Mar 9 | Saturday, Mar 9 | Sunday, Mar 10 | Saturday, Mar 9 |
| Time | 5 p.m. GMT | 12 p.m. ET | 12 p.m. ET | 4 a.m. AEDT | 10:30 p.m. IST |
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How to watch the 2024 F1 season in the USA
ESPN’s wide-reaching sporting network is showing every F1 race for US audiences in 2024, utilising Sky Sports’ live broadcasts, and also showing some free-to-air circuits on ABC.
US-based F1 fans can also stream each race live using Fubo, which is offering a FREE trial right now, or use ESPN+ among other streaming options. Meanwhile, ESPN Deportes is the exclusive Spanish-language home for all F1 races in the United States.
STREAM: F1 races on ESPN+ in the US
How to watch the 2024 F1 season in Canada
- TV channel: TSN (English); RDS / Noovo (French)
- Live stream: TSN Direct
For F1 fans in Canada, TSN are providing the English-language broadcast of each race, while RDS and Noovo are doing the same for French-speaking viewers.
Races can also be streamed through TSN’s own streaming service, TSN Direct.
How to watch the 2024 F1 season in the UK
- TV channel: Sky Sports F1
- Live stream: NOW TV / Sky Go app
As ever, Sky Sports’ dedicated Formula One channel, Sky Sports F1, are showing all the action from every single session in 2024.
For fans planning to live stream their fill of F1 this season, you can also watch by using the Sky Go app if you’re an existing subscriber, or by purchasing a Sky Sports Pass on NOW TV.
How to watch the 2024 F1 season in Australia
- TV channel: Fox Sports / Channel 10
- Live stream: Kayo Sports / Foxtel Go
Fox Sports are covering every race for Australian-based audiences in 2024, while free-to-air station Channel 10 will only be showing the Australian Grand Prix.
How to watch the 2024 F1 season in India
F1 fans in India can watch each circuit on subscription service F1 TV Pro, which also offers full race highlights and replays.
The coverage will include the live broadcast of the practice and qualifying sessions, of top of the races themselves.