Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

The 2026 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix takes place from 17-19 April, 2026, at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Friday 17 April: Practice 1 16:30 AST, Practice 2 20:00 AST

Saturday 18 April: Practice 3 16:30 AST, Qualifying 20:00 AST

Sunday 19 April: Race 20:00 AST

Sergio Perez topped the first session of qualifying after successful practice sessions. Lewis Hamilton got pole position in the second qualifying session with a time of 1:27:712. Lewis also gained a tyre advantage recording the fastest time with 10 lap old medium tyres. Max Verstappen, on the other hand, had recorded his fastest time on 4 lap old medium tyres. Both Championship contenders would go into the race on medium tyres as the Formula 1 race regulations stipulate. All the contestants in Q2 qualified on medium tyres except Lando Norris. Norris had used soft tyres.

The pole didn’t come easy for Hamilton. Hamilton had a slide in his first attempt in Q3 and was forced to abort it. In the next lap, Hamilton recorded his fastest lap. At the end of the session, Max Verstappen attempted his flying lap. He almost clipped the wall at the exit of Turn 2. Verstappen was making good time when he lost control of the car coming into the final corner. He went wide and applied the throttle, locking his front left tyre. The rear hit the wall and his suspension broke. This gave Lewis Hamilton the pole. Verstappen was in third place behind Valtteri Botas of Mercedes.

The Race

The race was scheduled at 20:30 local time and would last over 50 laps. It did start in time but would be interrupted with several incidents. It was on lap 10 that mick Schumacher lost control of his car and smashed into the barriers. A safety car was deployed and both the Mercedes cars go to the pits. This set them back to the second and third places. The race was then black flagged, giving Verstappen a chance to change his tyres while leading the race. The race was then restarted.

After a standing restart, Verstappen attempted to pass Hamilton just before a crash. The crash involved Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc, Nikita Mazepin and George Russell. The race was again black-flagged. The race director, Massi, first offered to re-order the cars. He later differed his decision and placed leaving Oncon, Hamilton and Verstappen in that order to lead the race. The decision was a result of Verstappen overtaking Hamilton after the first standing restart. Valtteri Bottas overtook Oncon on the last lap to take third place.

Red Bull team principal was disgruntled and compared Massi’s actions to “like being at the local market”. The Formula One chief Ross Brawn thought that Massi dealt with the situation pragmatically. Massi deferred with the two, stating that he knew that the stewards were authorised to make the final opinion. Massi said that he only gave them his perspective of the situation. The race ended with Hamilton winning and Verstappen placed second. Lewis Hamilton, with the 26 points he gained in the race would tie with Verstappen going into the final round.

Conclusion

The Saudi Arabian course at Jeddah is indeed a fast track with plenty of overtaking opportunities. The inaugural Grand Prix was full of excitement. But there are still concerns about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. Saudi Arabia has promised that Formula One racing is a start to the opening of Saudi Arabia to the world. What course the Saudi government takes remains to be seen.

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix List Of Winners

Year	Driver	Constructor
2021	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
2022	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-RBPT
2023	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT