Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Verstappen Takes Pole in Jeddah

Max Verstappen secured his first pole position in Jeddah ahead of Charles Leclerc and Sergio Pérez. The hour of qualifying was action packed, but the story of the session was Ollie Bearman coming extremely close to a Q3 appearance on his Formula 1 debut.

Catch up on the action from all three sessions below!

Q1 – Double Alpine Exit

Q1 saw plenty of action, with a number of different run plans throughout. The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team drivers raised a few eyebrows, starting on mediums but Lewis Hamilton and George Russell managed to get through thanks to a soft tyre run a few minutes.

Engineers were working hard to get Zhou Guanyu out on track after his crash during Free Practice Three. Despite great work from the team, the Chinese driver didn’t have enough time to get out, leaving him with no lap time and a place at the back of the grid. 

Logan Sargeant also got knocked out, with his final run lacking pace for Williams Racing. The BWT Alpine F1 Team struggles continued, with both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly getting knocked out in the first part of qualifying. Valtteri Bottas got close to Q2 but found himself knocked out by less than a tenth to Alex Albon.

Q2 – Bearman Just Misses Out on Top Ten

The first action of Q2 saw Nico Hülkenberg bring out the red flag, losing power at turn eight. 

Hülkenberg was unable to continue, meaning he’ll start fifteenth on the grid, while his Haas teammate, Kevin Magnussen, will start thirteenth. Daniel Ricciardo was unable to hook up a quick enough lap to get through to Q3, leaving him down in fourteenth. Albon will start the race from twelfth, while Bearman just missed out on a Q3 appearance on his Scuderia Ferrari debut. 

It was an incredible effort from Bearman to secure eleventh on the grid. The 18-year-old was just 0.036s behind Hamilton in tenth.

Q3 – Verstappen On Pole

Verstappen was a class above in Q3, securing his 34th career pole position ahead of Leclerc and Pérez. 

Lance Stroll would’ve been delighted with a Q3 appearance, but the Canadian was unable to make a real impact on the session, and will start the race in tenth. Yuki Tsunoda did an exceptional job to reach the final stage of qualifying, and will lineup ninth tomorrow.

It was a disappointing afternoon for Mercedes as they were restricted to just seventh and eighth on the grid. Russell had to abandon his final lap attempt after a mistake in Q1, meaning the Brit dropped from fourth to seventh.  

Oscar Piastri beat his teammate, Lando Norris, in qualifying to start fifth on the grid. Fernando Alonso was extremely close to a front row start, but ended the day in fourth. 

Pérez lines up third for the race on Saturday, behind a front row of Leclerc and Verstappen.