The Latest Breaking News from Alpine

In both cases, the drivers were deemed to have placed their cars too far to one side of their grid boxes at the start, and both subsequently received penalties.

Like his former Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon in Bahrain, Alonso picked up a five-second penalty for being out of position at the start, lining up to the left of his second grid slot.

Ocon was eventually withdrawn from the 2023 season-opening round in Bahrain with 16 of the 57 laps to go, the ninth-starting French driver having wound up running in a distant 17th place.

F1’s second race of the season at the Jeddah street circuit has forced all teams to opt for different downforce and drag levels to ensure they are better suited for the weekend’s top-speed demands.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez will line up on pole position after topping Saturday's qualifying session in Jeddah. He will be joined on the front row by Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, with George Russell (Mercedes) and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) next up in third and fourth position respectively.

In a dramatic qualifying on the Jeddah street track, Perez grabbed his second career F1 pole position, 12 months on from his maiden pole which came at the same circuit.

Ocon ran to a strong sixth in qualifying, lapping the Jeddah street circuit 0.813 seconds adrift of polesitter Sergio Perez - who led the Red Bull charge following a driveshaft failure for Max Verstappen.

The double world champion set the third fastest time in qualifying, 0.465 seconds away from Perez's ultimate pace, but will move up to the front row on the grid as Charles Leclerc will cop at least a 10-place grid penalty for taking on new control electronics.

The double world champion set the third fastest time in qualifying, 0.465 seconds away from Perez's ultimate pace, but will move up to the front row on the grid as Charles Leclerc will cop at least a 10-place grid penalty for taking on new control electronics.