Liam Lawson comes in at 131.7. He is tipped to make it to Q3 for Racing Bulls, which would be a huge step up for the New Zealander. Teammate Arvid Lindblad goes a 10th faster.
We’re off … The first cars trundling out for their warm-up laps.
It’s not all about the drivers, of course. Here’s Princess Akiko meeting the Haas principal, Ayao Komatsu.
Less than five minutes to the off. Poor, cash-strapped F1 has not been able to update the season graphic to remove Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, or else is leaving them on out of solidarity.
Bernie Collins on Sky is analysing the theoretical best times of the top 10, and there are no surprises on the notional front row, with Russell 0.021 behind Antonelli. But there is more than half a second back to Leclerc in third, leading the Ferrari + McLaren quartet, and Verstappen is in 10th, behind Liam Lawson, who a year ago was demoted from Red Bull to Racing Bulls for this race after struggling in the role of the Dutchman’s sidekick.
