Max Verstappen beats Oscar Piastri by 0.010s to take F1 Saudi Arabian GP pole, with George Russell in third after crash for Lando Norris.
Q1 –
The first part in F1 Saudi Arabian GP qualifying saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set pace with a 1m27.778s lap ahead of McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri after the Dutchman went for another round to improve on his time ahead of the leaders.
The session had some wall brush for certain drivers, along with a half spin for Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto at Turn 1. There was also a moment for Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in the pitlane after the tyre warmer on the front-right was stuck when he headed out for the final run to make it into Q2.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll missed out on Q2 by 0.074s margin after a 1m28.645s lap ahead of Alpine’s Jack Doohan (1m28.739s), Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg (1m28.782s), Haas’ Esteban Ocon (1m29.092s) and Bortoleto (1m29.462s), where the Frenchman had a wide Turn 1 moment to lose out.
Q2 –
The second part of F1 Saudi Arabian GP qualifying saw several running their first lap on a used set of soft, where Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson had his lap deleted due to track limits. There was a gap between the Top 3 and others due to the new soft used by them.
Williams’ Alexander Albon ran out of sequence to set his lap before everyone else, as Norris elected not to venture out the second time – even if it was for a sighting lap. The Brit was fastest in the end with a 1m27.481s lap ahead of Verstappen and Piastri in the Top 3 – all closely matched.
Albon was knocked out eventually by 0.007s margin after his early lap of 1m28.109s ahead of Lawson (1m28.191s), Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso (1m28.303s), Visa Cash App RB’s Isack Hadjar (1m28.418s) and Haas’ Oliver Bearman (1m28.648s) to round the 15 runners.
Q3 –
The final part in F1 Saudi Arabian GP saw Piastri set the pace on his first attempt, with Mercedes’ George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the game to set a lap when the session was red-flagged after a crash for Norris. The Brit ran over the kerb at Turn 4 and was sent into the wall at Turn 5.
His mental woes took a further tumble after a small mistake leading to a large consequence. The stop changed the running sequence as Verstappen undertook his first run to leapfrog the Australian by 0.001s margin with a 1m27.559s lap. Williams’ Carlos Sainz was third in the order.
Things heated up in the final run when Russell (1m27.407s) went quickest first, followed by Piastri (1m27.304s). But Verstappen went a step ahead by 0.010s to take F1 pole in Saudi Arabian GP after his 1m27.294s lap in a turnaround in Jeddah after his woes in Bahrain.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m27.670s) went quietly in fourth from Antonelli (1m27.866s), as Sainz (1m28.164s) improved well to end up sixth from Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton (1m28.201s), Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m28.204s) and Gasly (1m28.367s) to round out the nine runners.
