Max Verstappen takes pole position at Jeddah, while Fernando Alonso fought hard for P4, and Ferrari only has one car in the top 10 for tomorrow at the Saudi Arabian GP
Saudi Arabia GP Qualifying
All cars took the grid for the second qualifying session of the season. With Verstappen topping 2/3 practice sessions, and Alonso topping FP2 we could not wait to see who took pole this Friday.
Oliver Bearman is also making his F1 debut in the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, after the driver under going surgery for appendisitius (you can read more here)
Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying Q1
Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc fight for P1, while Sauber don’t manage to get two cars out on track
The session starts off with a few touches to the wall from Magnussen and Piastri but no damage was sustained to either car.
Maxes Red Bull quickly set a top time with Alonso, Leclerc and Russel not far behind him.
Both Mercedes were the only cars that started on soft tires which they ended up swapping for softs like the rest of the field.
A good lap for the young Australian, Oscar Piastri sets a time slightly higher than his teammate Lando Norris.
Bearman on his first qualifying session in F1 set a time a good enough for eighth, while his monagasque teammate topped the times, two minutes before the end of the session.
However, the Dutch lion roared back setting a time of 1:28.171 and Stroll set an incredible time at the end of the session putting him P2 at the end of Q1.
Due to late setting off from the pits Saubers Zhou failed to set a time in Q1 confirming his position staring P20 tomorrow.
He will be joined with the two Alpines, and the Williams of Logan Sargent. His teammate Valteri Bottas also finishes in Q1 and sits P16 for the race tomorrow.
Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying Q2
Red Flag nightmare for Hulkenberg
Hulkenburg stops at turn eight due to loss of power. A delayed yellow flag which swiftly changed to a red, put a stop to Q2.
Q2 started back up with drivers and teams desperate to set a time.
Oliver Bearman went on a flying lap, which was swiftly aborted due to running wide on a corner
Max Verstappen and the Spaniard Fernando Alonso battled it out for a top time. Despite Alonso setting purple sectors in one and two, it was Verstappen that set a lap time of 1:28.07 with Alonso only trailing 0.044 seconds behind.
The two McLarens fought to get a more competitive time on the board leaving them both P4 and P5
Alex Albon struggles to find the pace and finishes P12. The RB of Daniel Ricciardo only goes 14th putting both drivers out in Q2.
It was sadness for the rookie Bearman as he finishes his frist qualifying session in P11, just outside the Q3 roster.
Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying Q3
Leclerc finds pace, and the fight for Alonso is in full flight.
Perez sets an early provisional pole with both him and the Aston Martin of Alonso having had fantastic flying laps.
This was too soon to call as shortly after the dominance of Max Verstappen was evident as he clears his teammate of a provisional pole setting a 1:27.472.
Charles Leclerc struggles on the new tires reporting issues back to the team. Meanwhile the Mercedes struggle to find pace in Q3.
The McLaren’s battle was in full blown at Jeddah, and Piastri finishes higher than his British teammate Lando Norris in P5 and P6 respectively.
Charles Leclerc’s problems seemed to disappear as he put an incredible flying lap in landing him on the from row P2 ahead of the Red Bull of Sergio Perez.
Fernando Alonso was on fire hoping to get a front row but finished P4 where he will start alongside perez.
The Dutch Lion took pole, where he will start for the race tomorrow.
Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying