In Saudi Arabia there's no time to joke anymore. Today's qualifying will set the grid for tomorrow's race. In fact, remember that, as in Bahrain, also this weekend the race will be held on Saturday instead of on Sunday. Many twists and turns have already surrounded the Arab weekend. One above all, the replacement of Carlos Sainz by Oliver Bearman. The Spanish driver was operated successfully to appendicitis, and the British number 38 will find himself catapulted into the very thorny situation of driving a Formula 1 in one of the most complicated circuits of the world championship – click here to see what changes at Fanta F1 -. Below are the qualifying results for the Saudi Arabian GP.
Green light, we're off to the track
The qualifying session opens with images of the garage Sauber. The mechanics are working hastily to get the car back on track Zhou after bang in FP3. There was a lot of activity on the track right away, with the Mercedes of Hamilton and Russell starting the dance on yellow tyres. Bearman starts off on the right foot, passing the cut and entering the second round of this qualifying session. The miracle of the Sauber mechanics wasn't enough to repair the C44. The Chinese driver took the checkered flag for a few seconds without being able to make his attempt. Meanwhile, there is a black crisis at Alpine: Bottas, Ocon, Gasly, Sargeant and Zhou were excluded from the first round, curiously, the same as Bahrain.
Second round: it's an immediate red flag
Another twist at the beginning of the second round: Hulkenberg was forced to pull over due to a loss of power. Yet another questionable management by the race commissioners, who let all the drivers parade before displaying the yellow flag, and then displaying the red just before Leclerc completed the lap. The Monegasque is unlucky as he finds himself with one set of red tires less compared to the other. Meanwhile blocking for Bearman at the beginning of his attempt, thus forced to abolish his flying spin.
In the meantime, the clock seems to show that Verstappen's pole could be challenged by a Ferrari or an Aston Martin. Bearman still struggles, victim of Jeddah's narrow walls which make it difficult for him to complete a clean lap. Nothing to do for the Englishman from Ferrari, forced to settle for an eleventh position. Bearman, Albon, Magnussen, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg eliminated from Q2.
Last round, here are the results of the Qualifying for the Saudi Arabian GP!
Worth noting is Ferrari's singular approach: Leclerc, unlike many others, completes two preparation laps before launching. Verstappen gets off to a flying start, which puts her in provisional pole position by 335 thousandths compared to her teammate. Something doesn't convince Leclerc: just as in Bahrain the SF-24 does an excellent Q2 and then suffers a decline in Q3. The Monegasque feels a better feeling with the soft tire that has been run in rather than with the new one.
Verstappen takes pole position in Jeddah. He is 319 thousandths behind him Leclerc, Followed by Perez e Alonso. Piastres e Norris precede the Mercedes duo, with Russell in front of Hamilton. Tsunoda and Stroll seal the top ten of a qualification hyper-dominated by Dutch. Track record for the three-time world champion.
