Nyck de Vries will head into qualifying in Saudi Arabia short on practice, with AlphaTauri forced to conduct an engine change on his AT04 during FP3.

The Dutchman confirmed an engine issue ruled him out of running during the third free practice session around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, and his AlphaTauri mechanics will be working hard to prepare his car in time for qualifying.

The team confirmed the news on social media, writing on Twitter: “Unfortunately, we’ve detected an issue on [De Vries’] car and we are now changing his PU.

“As a result, he won’t be participating in FP3.”

F1 TV Pro* viewers can watch all the live action from all 23 race weekends this season completely ad-free! Click here for the ultimate F1 viewing experience.

*Available in selected territories only. Click here to see eligible territories.

With the new parts being on De Vries’ car coming from the permitted engine pool for the season, no penalty will be prompted as a result of his power unit swap.

This could spell bad news for the AlphaTauri driver, given he is the only member of the grid to have not driven on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in any category ahead of the weekend, with even fellow full rookies Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant having competed on the track in Formula 2 last season.

PlanetF1.com recommends

Franz Tost clarifies ‘I don’t trust them anymore’ comment aimed at his engineers
Lando Norris points to Aston Martin and Ferrari for the path which McLaren must follow
Martin Brundle on ‘jaw drop and eye roll time’ over Ferrari reliability woes

Charles Leclerc already heads into the weekend with a 10-place grid penalty hanging over him at Ferrari, with a third Control Electronics unit being fitted on his SF-23 after the two allowed for the season failed for him in the season-opening weekend in Bahrain.

The article Nyck de Vries misses Jeddah FP3 with full power unit change at AlphaTauri appeared first on Planetf1.com.