Max Verstappen claims dominant Saudi Arabian GP pole from Charles Leclerc
Max Verstappen claims a dominant pole position at the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Reigning F1 world champion Max Verstappen put in a dominant performance to claim pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver was 0.319 seconds quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who had to settle for second place on the grid for the second consecutive weekend.
But it was another crushing display from Verstappen, with the three-time world champion sealing his first pole at the Jeddah Cornice Circuit.
Sergio Perez was third, but over three-tenths slower than his Red Bull teammate.
Fernando Alonso produced an impressive lap to put his Aston Martin on the second row in fourth, just 0.374 secs off Verstappen’s benchmark.
Oscar Piastri out-qualified teammate Lando Norris in a strong showing from McLaren in fifth and sixth.
Next came the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, who were a disappointing seventh and eighth, over eight-tenths adrift.
RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll completed the top-10 order.
Oliver Bearman narrowly missed out on a spot in Q3 as he ended up a respectable 11th in his first ever F1 qualifying.
The 18-year-old has become the youngest-ever British F1 driver, and the youngest to drive for Ferrari, as a last-minute replacement for Carlos Sainz, who was struck down with appendicitis.
Alex Albon put his Williams 12th ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and the RB of Daniel Ricciardo, who couldn’t join his teammate in the top-10.
Nico Hulkenberg stopped on track with a loss of power in his Haas during Q2, leaving him only 15th.
Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas was 16th, ahead of the Alpine pair of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, while Williams driver Logan Sargeant also suffered a Q1 elimination in 19th.
Zhou Guanyu did not get out in time to complete a lap following his huge FP3 crash and he will start 20th and last.
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