Red Bull strongest so far in Saudi Arabia while Mercedes woes continue

Charles Leclerc topped the timings but, on this occasion, the final classification does not tell us the full truth as Red Bull seems to be quickest on track by about 3 tenths of a second - according to the verdict of Sky Sports F1's David Croft.

Max Verstappen was on for a flying lap, setting purple in the first second and green in the middle before taking a corner slightly too wide and being forced to end his run. Had the World Champion have completed that lap his time was on course to be 3 tenths of a second quicker than any other lap set during the session.

Looking down the grid we see Mercedes - whose struggles seem to be getting worse before they are getting better. In last week's Bahrain final practice session they secured a respectable P4 and P6 but in this weekend's final practice they were only quick enough to manage P11 and P14.

The W13 seems to be able to handle the corners well but it seems like the main problem facing the Mercedes team is the ability to deliver straight-line speed - with the team dropping a considerable amount of time down the main straights. The inability to match the speed of the Ferraris and the Red Bulls seems to be solely down to the poor delivery from the power unit.

The poor Mercedes power unit is further backed up by the teams to which they supply engines - as all of the cars in the bottom six are Mercedes powered.

With qualifying being under the floodlights the track conditions may favour Mercedes power more - but if not it could be a painful weekend for all four Mercedes-powered teams.