Summary

  • Final practice under way

  • Qualifying at 09:00

  • Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia held at Sepang circuit near Kulala Lumpur

  • Race rescheduled from April because of Middle East unrest

  • Use the 'watch & listen' tab for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra commentary

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Live Reporting

Tasnim Chowdhury

  1. Sam Bird
    Former Formula E driver on 5 Sports Extra

    We're halfway through the session and we've learnt... erm... nothing, really.

  2. All 22 cars are out on track now for the final practice session.

    The top three are currently McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on the mediums and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on the hard tyres.

  3. Team radio: Bearman to Haas

    Bearman: "I didn't know what that was."

    Engineer: "Yeah we've seen that on the front right."

    Bearman: "First I thought that was the tyre but it wasn't."

  4. And we are back. Session has resumed after the debris is cleared off.

    There is just 30 minutes left of the session.

    SErgio PerezGetty Images

  5. Andrew Benson
    BBC F1 correspondent

    It tends to be in the afternoon when it rains; the humidity builds up, the clouds build, and we saw that happen on Friday. At the beginning of second practice, it was a 90% prediction of rain before the session started. But it all kind of broke up, and it does sometimes to that.

    One of the striking things is how few wet races there have been in Malaysia, and in Singapore, despite that fact it couldn't be more tropical. But when it does rain, it really, really chucks it down, but then it dries up really quickly because the sun is so powerful.

  6. Get Involved

    Select the 'Get Involved' button to have your say

    I’m willing to eat my words here but I don’t think Mercedes get podium this weekend. Red Bull look strong and Ferrari look good too

    Jacob, Cardiff

  7. red flag

    Red flag

    The red flag has been waved. There is a bit of debris out on Turn 10.

    The session has been stopped and the drivers head back to the pits.

    It looks like the debris came off Oliver Bearman's Haas.

  8. Top 5

    1. Lando Norris (McLaren)

    2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

    3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

    4. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

    5. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

  9. Yet to join the pack on the track are Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes duo Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

  10. Norris fastest

    Lando Norris has gone fastest now on the medium tyres.

    The McLaren driver has set a time of 1:37.161.

    Oscar Piastri is a close second, three tenths behind Norris.

    Oscar PiastriGetty Images

  11. What is the weather like in Sepang?

    Thundery showers and light winds are forecast for both Saturday's sessions, with temperatures reaching a high of 31C.

  12. Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren Mastercard F1 Team in action during friday free practice of the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand PrixGetty Images

    The two McLarens are now out on the circuit and both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are the only two to have the yellow medium tyres bolted on.

    Everyone else, apart from Charles Leclerc, has the red soft tyres on for the final practice session.

  13. Sam Bird
    Former Formula E driver on 5 Sports Extra

    Charles Leclerc is out on track and he's the first driver we've seen on the hard compound this weekend.

  14. Leclerc fastest

    The track is getting busy now with a flurry of drivers making their way out for final practice.

    It doesn't take Charles Leclerc very long to top the leaderboard, he is on a lap time of 1:37.772.

    Leclerc is also the only driver on the hard compound.

  15. Max Verstappen is not in a rush to get into his Red Bull. He is having a look at the data and chats with his engineer.

    Pierre Gasly has overtaken his team-mate for the fastest lap time, he is on 1:38.241.

    Audi duo Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc have made their way out onto the circuit in Sepang.

  16. Pierre Gasly and Arvid Lindblad have also joined their Alpine and Racing Bull team-mates.

    Franco Colapinto is currently fastest in the Alpine. He has set a lap time of 1:39.417.

  17. Max Verstappen won the last race in Malaysia in 2017, with Lewis Hamilton second and then team-mate Daniel Ricciardo third.

    Can Verstappen get another race win in Malaysia, almost 10 years later?

  18. Sam Bird
    Former Formula E driver on 5 Sports Extra

    Everybody needs to do some meaningful running in this session but my fear is we're not going to see a massive amount of track activity because of the amount of tryes they have remaining.

    Everybody is going to need to keep new tyres, and I feel like they've might have used more sets than they would probably have wanted to throughout FP1 and FP2, such is the degradation coming from this track.

  19. Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy and Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team walks in the paddock during final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain in MalaysiaGetty Images

    It's been five minutes of the final session and about 19 drivers are yet to get out on track.

    Championship leader Kimi Antonelli has an ice vest on and has a chat with his engineer in the Mercedes garage.

  20. Franco Colapinto and Liam Lawson have joined Perez out on track. All three cars have the red soft tyres bolted on.

    Meanwhile, the majority of drivers are still in the garages.