Max Verstappen Storms To Saudi Pole

Max Verstappen secured the top starting position for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, outpacing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by three-tenths of a second, with Sergio Pérez taking third in the second Red Bull car.

Verstappen initially clinched provisional pole in the first run of Q3 with a time of 1:27.472, placing him ahead of Pérez. While neither of the Red Bulls improved in their final attempts, Leclerc did, edging out Pérez by a mere 0.016 seconds to snatch a spot on the front row from the Mexican driver.

Red Bull set the pace from the session’s outset. Pérez initially claimed the top spot with a lap of 1:28.761, but Verstappen soon surpassed him with a time of 1:28.491. As other drivers stepped up their game and Leclerc moved into second place followed by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Mercedes’ George Russell, and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Pérez fell to sixth.

Leclerc briefly held P1 towards the session’s end with a lap of 1:28.318, going 0.173 seconds faster than Verstappen. However, Verstappen reclaimed the lead with his final lap of 1:28.171. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll delivered a robust final effort to grab P2, just 0.08 seconds behind Verstappen, with Leclerc settling for third. Pérez found extra pace in his final lap, climbing to fourth, ahead of Alonso.

However, Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas didn’t make it past Q1, finishing in P16, just ahead of the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, and Williams’ Logan Sargeant. Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu, after last-minute fixes following his FP3 crash, couldn’t set a time and was eliminated in P20.

In Q2, Russell set an early benchmark with a lap of 1:28.608, leading Norris and Hamilton until the session was halted due to Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg losing power and stopping on track.

Once the session resumed, Pérez, on used tyres, posted a time of 1:28.539, but Verstappen, on fresh Softs, took P1 with a lap of 1:28.078. Alonso, also on new tyres, claimed P2, just 0.044 seconds behind Verstappen, with Leclerc in fourth on used tyres.

In their final Q2 runs, Verstappen made a slight improvement to stay on top, leading Leclerc by 0.08 seconds, with Alonso closely behind in third. Piastri was fourth, followed by Russell, and Pérez’s improvement to 1:28.467 placed him sixth, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, Stroll, and Hamilton, who narrowly secured the last Q3 spot over Ferrari’s newcomer Oliver Bearman by 0.036 seconds. Along with Bearman, those eliminated included Williams’ Alex Albon, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, the second RB of Daniel Ricciardo, and the unfortunate Hülkenberg.

During Q3’s initial runs, Verstappen set a formidable time of 1:27.472 for provisional pole, a substantial 0.335 seconds faster than Pérez in second, with Alonso trailing by 0.181 seconds, and Leclerc in fourth, who reported his car felt “really weird” on new Soft tyres.

However, neither Red Bull driver could better their first attempt. Verstappen finished just shy of two-tenths from his earlier time, and Pérez also had to rely on his initial time. This left an opening for Leclerc, who although couldn’t surpass Verstappen, finished with a time of 1:27.791, 0.319 seconds behind the champion but enough to prevent a Red Bull front-row monopoly, nudging Pérez to third by 0.016 seconds. Behind Pérez were Alonso in fourth, Piastri fifth, followed by Russell and Hamilton. Tsunoda secured P9 for RB ahead of Hamilton.

Max Verstappen

“I enjoyed the day a lot. The car was really nice to drive and it was a good improvement from yesterday. We improved the car a little bit overnight and came out with a great set up which allowed me to attack the high speed corners and improve the one lap performance. Around this track, it really depends on your confidence level and how much you can go to your limit and today I felt very comfortable with the car. The whole of qualifying has been going very well, especially Q2 and my first lap in Q3. I am proud of today and am looking forward to the race tomorrow. As a Team we are happy with our car and the race pace and we really found our stride today. It has been a great job from the whole Team.”

2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Qualifying Results