Max Verstappen Takes Pole Position in the Saudi Arabian GP

Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Saudi Arabian Formula 1 Grand Prix, surpassing Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. Sergio "Checo" Pérez achieved third place.

Verstappen showed speed from the outset of the day by leading the third free practice session. Then, in the qualifying session, he achieved the fastest time, obtaining his first pole position at the Jeddah Corniche circuit and the 34th of his F1 career. The Dutch driver set a time of 1m27s472 on his first outing in Q3, enough to place himself in the lead position for Saturday's race.

Charles Leclerc took his Ferrari to the second position, securing a place on the front row alongside Verstappen. On the other hand, Checo Pérez finished in third position with a time of 1m27s988 on his first attempt, failing to improve on his second attempt and finishing 0.335s behind Verstappen.

Fernando Alonso, in Aston Martin, achieved fourth place, followed by the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, both of Mercedes, secured seventh and eighth positions, respectively.

The top ten positions were completed by Yuki Tsunoda from RB and Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin. Eighteen-year-old driver Oliver Bearman, replacing Carlos Sainz, stood out in qualifying and will start 11th in his first race in the top category.

Kevin Magnussen from Haas qualified in 13th position, while his teammate, Nico Hulkenberg, faced an issue with his car that caused a red flag and will start 15th. Daniel Ricciardo, having another tough day, only managed to reach 14th place with his RB car.

The drivers who did not advance to Q2 were Valtteri Bottas (Sauber), the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, Logan Sargeant (Williams), and Zhou Guanyu (Sauber), the latter after an accident in FP3.