Max Verstappem may start the race from pole position in Saudi Arabia, just like a week earlier in Bahrain. With his 34th pole position he leaves Jim Clark and Alain Prost behind him. Just like a week earlier, he is also joined on the front row by Charles Leclerc, while Sergio Pérez achieved his best qualifying result in a long time.
Verstappen was fastest in the first and third free practice, and then also dominated in qualifying, with the fastest time in Q1, Q2 and Q3. Ultimately, the Limburger completed two laps in Q3 that were good enough for pole position, and with more than three tenths he also had a healthy margin over Charles Leclerc, who was a few hundredths faster than Sergio Pérez and Fernando Alonso. For Pérez, this is the second time in nineteen weekends that he has started in the top four: in Belgium 2023 he benefited from a grid penalty from teammate Verstappen.
Mercedes train and Ferrari youngster
Alonso is the fastest man with Mercedes drive, in fourth place. The 42-year-old kept the McLaren and Mercedes drivers behind him. At McLaren, Oscar Piastri was slightly faster than Lando Norris, while Lewis Hamilton once again had to watch George Russell do better. Yuki Tsunoda with Honda drive is the odd one out in P9, ahead of Lance Stroll. The Mercedes peloton is followed by Ferrari debutant Oliver Bearman, who was only 0.036 seconds slower than Hamilton in Q2.
Behind Bearman, it is mainly the five weaker teams that fill the starting grid. Alexander Albon could be reasonably satisfied with the twelfth fastest time, ahead of Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian was half a second slower than Tsunoda in Q2, and owed his fourteenth place partly to the retirement of former teammate Nico Hülkenberg. In Q1 we saw the same five dropouts as in Bahrain: Valtteri Bottas, Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, and Logan Sargeant, who traditionally starts from the last row, just like Zhou Guanyu, who failed to set a time after his earlier crash to put.
Starting lineup GP Saudi Arabia:
1. Max Verstappen
2. Charles Leclerc
3. Sergio Perez
4. Fernando Alonso
5. Oscar Piastri
6. Lando Norris
7.George Russel
8.Lewis Hamilton
9. Yuki Tsunoda
10. Lance Stroll
11.Oliver Bearman
12. Alexander Albon
13. Kevin Magnussen
14.Daniel Ricciardo
15. Nico Hulkenberg
16. Valtteri Bottas
17. Esteban Ocon
18. Pierre Gasly
19. Logan Sargeant
20.Zhou Guanyu
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