F1 Saudi Arabia GP 2024 LIVE: Race updates, schedule and times as Ollie Bearman makes Ferrari debut

The place will Bearman end on his F1 debut?

Teenager Ollie Bearman celebrated turning into the youngest British driver in Components One historical past by qualifying eleventh in his Ferrari for Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Bearman, 18 years and 10 months to the day, was thrown into the deepest of ends as a last-minute stand-in for Carlos Sainz, who was hospitalised with appendicitis.

However the Essex teenager, with only one hour of observe below his belt, and having by no means pushed an F1 machine at evening, got here inside 0.036 seconds of toppling Lewis Hamilton and progressing to Q3.

Max Verstappen put Crimson Bull’s continued off-track woes to at least one aspect by taking pole place, with Charles Leclerc second, three tenths again, and Sergio Perez third.

Fernando Alonso took fourth, with George Russell and Hamilton seventh and eighth respectively for Mercedes. Hamilton was practically one second slower than Verstappen.

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will probably be broadcast reside on Sky Sports activities in the UK – and ESPN in the US. Sky’s protection of the race begins at 3:30pm.

Highlights of the race within the UK will probably be aired on free-to-air Channel 4 at 9:30pm (GMT) on Saturday.

Max Verstappen has sensationally threatened to stop Crimson Bull if Helmut Marko – who’s prone to suspension – is pressured out of the staff.

In one other twist to the saga engulfing F1’s most dominant staff, long-term motorsport adviser Marko could possibly be suspended, based on stories.

Crimson Bull are enterprise a brand new investigation surrounding the varied media leaks within the final month or so, together with the leak of WhatsApp messages allegedly between Christian Horner and his feminine colleague, a few of a sexually suggestive nature.

The BBC goes additional, saying that Crimson Bull do certainly intend to droop the 80-year-old, who’s an in depth ally of Max and his father Jos.

And three-time world champion Verstappen, mere minutes after taking pole in Saudi Arabia, insisted his future on the staff might rely upon Marko’s place.

F1 TV presenter Laura Winter produced a transferring piece to digicam in Saudi Arabia on Worldwide Ladies’s Day – admitting it has not been simple being a lady working within the sport in mild of latest occasions.

The complainant nonetheless has the best to enchantment the end result of Crimson Bull’s inside investigation, which cleared Horner of any wrongdoing.

However after what has been a troublesome month, with the position of ladies in Components 1 introduced again into the limelight, Winter despatched a defiant message to these working within the sport and feminine followers, insisting: “We’re right here to remain and we’re proper the place we belong.”

Within the endless topsy-turvy circus of Components One, it’s sensible to count on the surprising.

But these newest shenanigans relating to Christian Horner, Max Verstappen and Crimson Bull – and the potential fallout and penalties of inside politics inside the staff – can be monumentally seismic for the game.

The controversy surrounding Horner doesn’t appear to have concluded simply but. The newest is that Horner met with Verstappen’s supervisor in Dubai on Monday, to de-escalate tensions inside the staff after Verstappen’s father Jos implied that Horner’s place as staff principal was untenable.

However the place are we heading on this matter? What might the potential fallout be? And will Crimson Bull be in peril of shedding their star driver to their greatest rivals?

The Unbiased offers the low-down on all issues Verstappen, Crimson Bull and Horner:

1. Max Verstappen – 26 factors

2. Sergio Perez – 18 factors

3. Carlos Sainz – 15 factors

4. Charles Leclerc – 12 factors

5. George Russell – 10 factors

6. Lando Norris – 8 factors

7. Lewis Hamilton – 6 factors

8. Oscar Piastri – 4 factors

9. Fernando Alonso – 2 factors

10. Lance Stroll – 1 level

11. Zhou Guanyu – 0 factors

12. Kevin Magnussen – 0 factors

13. Daniel Ricciardo – 0 factors

14. Yuki Tsunoda – 0 factors

15. Alex Albon – 0 factors

16. Nico Hulkenberg – 0 factors

17. Esteban Ocon – 0 factors

18. Pierre Gasly – 0 factors

19. Valtteri Bottas – 0 factors

20. Logan Sargeant – 0 factors