F1 Saudi Arabia GP: Verstappen strolls to pole ahead of Leclerc, Perez

This is what champions are made of. Sure, Max Verstappen has the best car on the grid, but with so much drama behind closed doors in Red Bull, when the defending wears his helmet, he drowns out the noise.

This will surprise many, but this is the Dutchman’s first pole at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.

Verstappen topped all three qualifying rounds and always looked in total control. The defending champion clocked a lap time of 1 minute 27.472 seconds and stayed 0.3 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. Last year’s winner and two-time pole position qualifier, Sergio Perez had to settle for third position.

F1 Saudi Arabia GP: Alonso’s sneaky move

Things began to heat up in the last third seconds of Q3 when Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso decided to let Lewis Hamilton overtake him only for the Spaniard to take a tow from the Mercedes driver. The move was no doubt an ingenious idea but the two-world champion could manage fourth position while his teammate Lance Stroll will start from tenth place. Mixed fortunes for team Aston Martin as Stroll started the proceedings by qualifying second in Q1 behind Verstappen. In Q2, it was Alonso who qualified second behind Red Bull’s Flying Dutchman.

F1 Saudi Arabia GP: Rounding up the rest

Oscar Piastri bettered his team mated Lando Norris for two consecutive years at Jeddah in the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. Piastri and Norris will start fifth and sixth respectively with the two Mercedes’ behind them. It was another disappointing outing for George Russell and Hamilton as they qualified for seventh and eighth. The only silver lining for Russell was that he out-qualified his teammate.

As Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was ruled out of the Grand Prix in the last minute, he was replaced by reserve driver Oliver Bearman. According to the statement issued by Ferrari, “Carlos Sainz has been diagnosed with appendicitis and will require surgery”. The F2 race driver Bearman got behind the wheel and impressed many as he qualified 11th. He narrowly missed the final Q3 round by 0.036 seconds.