Ahead of today's qualifying session the air temperature is 30 degrees C, while the track temperature is 38 degrees.
Max Verstappen was quickest earlier, edging out Charles Leclerc by 0.320s. However, the Monegasque faces a 5-place grid penalty so this afternoon the Dutchman's opposition will come from his own teammate or Carlos Sainz.
However, Lewis Hamilton was looking strong, and has a great record at this track.
The circuit's infamous bumps continue to be an issue, and combined with the wind have given the drivers a hard time thus far this weekend.
Another factor is tyres, with the softs seemingly only good for one hot lap.
Almost everyone has made a mistake at some point or another, with over enthusiasm also costing drivers a heavy price, so it is not impossible that we might witness a few shocks and surprises over the next hour.
In the moments before the start of the session it is revealed that Red Bull co-founder, Dietrich Mateschitz has passed away at the age of 78.
"Never be afraid to follow your dreams, chase your dreams and that's what he did in Formula 1 and we're incredibly grateful for what he did, so many people in this pit lane owe him so much," said Christian Horner in tribute.
"As he would have wanted, we now head into this qualifying exactly as he would have wanted it to be," he added. "He was passionate about F1, passionate about the team, and our determination is to go and do our best for him today, and obviously in the race tomorrow."
The lights go green and Albon leads the way, followed by Schumacher, Zhou and Latifi, as has been the case all weekend the crowd cheers.
Of the first cluster of drivers, Schumacher goes quickest with a 37.816, as the Bulls and Ferraris head out.
As Verstappen begins his first flyer of the session all 20 drivers are on track.
The Dutchman crosses the line at 35.864, with Perez crossing the line at 36.163.
However, Leclerc responds with a 35.795.
Russell goes fourth (36.195), ahead of Stroll and Norris, only to be demoted when Hamilton stops the clock at 36.148 to go third.
Alonso goes sixth and Ocon twelfth.
"The Haas was on the racing line into Turn 17," reports Verstappen, "it was really dangerous."
Bottas, who has been having a good weekend thus far, goes seventh with a 36.817.
Sainz crosses the line at 35.297 to take the top spot, the Spaniard having aborted his first flyer.
Zhou is among the first to have his time deleted, the Chinese driver having exceeded the track limits at Turn 12. This drops him from 10th to 20th.
With 4 minutes remaining, Tsunoda, Albon, Ricciardo, Magnussen and Zhou comprise the drop zone, with Latifi, Ocon, Vettel and Schumacher hovering.
Hamilton appears to impede Albon, the seven-time champ hogging the racing line while on a cool down lap.
All bar Sainz, Leclerc, Verstappen and Perez are on track, as Zhou continues to argue the toss over his deleted time.
Hamilton improves to fourth with a 35.7878 but his time is then deleted. Nonetheless, he remains fourth.
Gasly goes eighth, Vettel ninth and Tsunoda tenth.
Ricciardo can only manage 13th, is it enough? He is instantly demoted by Magnussen and then Norris, while Zhou goes tenth.
Albon goes 15th, which is bad news for Magnussen and Ricciardo.
Quickest is Sainz, ahead of Leclerc, Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, Russell, Alonso, Norris, Gasly and Zhou.
We lose Magnussen, Ricciardo, Ocon, Schumacher and Latifi.
Albon, delighted to have made the cut, if first out for Q2, followed by Tsunoda and Gasly.
Soon all bar Sainz are on track, and as Albon begins his flyer the Spaniard finally emerges.
Albon crosses the line at 37.124, with Tsunoda posting a 37.147.
"I'm trying my best, it's not my fault," says Gasly as he suffers a braking issue which causes several lock-ups.
Vettel goes second but has his time deleted.
A 36.748 sees Bottas go top, ahead of his Alfa teammate who posts a 36.970.
No sooner has Russell gone quickest with a 35.692, than Verstappen responds with a 35.294 and Leclerc a 35.246.
Sainz goes third with a 35.590, Alonso seventh and Norris tenth.
Perez is told he's losing out in Turn 11.
Tsunoda leads his teammate out as the final assault gets underway.
Leclerc appears to have settled for his time, as have Sainz and Perez, while Verstappen, Russell and Hamilton head out again.
Albon improves to eighth with a 36.368.
Tsunoda goes ninth, Gasly tenth.
Vettel goes ninth and Stroll seventh, which is bad news for the AlphaTauris.
Norris goes ninth, but is demoted by Bottas.
A 36.196 sees Zhou go ninth which means Norris fails to make the cut.
However, Zhou's time is deleted which means that Norris' bacon is saved.
"Why do we keep having this problem," asks Gasly, "this is the second weekend in a row," he adds, referring to the brake issue.
"Sorry guys, there was more in the car today," says Vettel.
Leclerc is quickest, ahead of Verstappen, Sainz, Russell, Hamilton, Perez, Alonso, Stroll, Bottas and Norris.
We lose Albon, Vettel, Gasly, Tsunoda and Zhou.
Check out our Saturday gallery from COTA here.
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