Verstappen denies Piastri for pole after heavy crash for Norris in qualifying

Max Verstappen will start the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from pole position after narrowly beating Oscar Piastri in qualifying.

Red Bull claimed pole position for the fourth year in a row at Jeddah.

However championship leader Lando Norris will start down in 10th after crashing in the final phase of qualifying.

Q1

Despite Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber spinning in front of him at turn one late in the session, Max Verstappen headed the times at the end of Q1. He displaced the two McLaren drivers who spent most of the first phase of qualifying trading fastest times.

They didn’t have to worry about elimination in the first round, but the fight for survival was as intense as ever. Lewis Hamilton, enduring a difficult weekend in his Ferrari, had to resort to another set of fresh soft tyres in order to ensure he progressed to the next phase.

Pierre Gasly had a couple of scares as he made the cut. His team sent him out of the garage for his final run before they’d fully removed the tyre blanket from his right-front. It became tangled around his wheel and had to be yanked free by a mechanic. Once on the track the first practice pace-setter clipped the wall at the final corner but kept his foot in to secure a place in Q2.

It came at the expense of his team mate, however. Jack Doohan slipped to 17th behind Lance Stroll, who also went no further while his team mate progressed. Fernando Alonso used the slipstream from Doohan’s car to set himself up for a flying start to his lap.

Esteban Ocon was slower than team mate Oliver Barman from their first laps and dropped out in 19th between the two Saubers, Bortoleto slowest of all after his spin. The Racing Bulls pair were the last drivers to make the cut. Isack Hadjar having also touched the turn 27 wall.

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Q1 result

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Q2

Verstappen beat Piastri’s first effort in qualifying, and though Norris beat them both he needed a slipstream from his team mate to do it. The Red Bull driver suffered a heavy kerb strike between turns four and five, and urged his team to check for damage.

Russell took up fourth to begin with ahead of Leclerc, followed by Tsunoda and Hamilton. Sainz was eighth after the first runs but he too had taken a slipstream from his team mate.

As the final runs began Gasly, Bearman, Alonso and the Racing Bulls pair were in the drop zone. Of those, only Gasly managed to escape the bottom five with his final run, as Albon paid the price of being one of the first to set his final time.

Hamilton and Tsunoda needed their final laps to ensure they progressed to Q2. The Ferrari driver made it in narrowly by just seven thousandths of a second from Albon’s Williams.

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Q2 result

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Q3

Q3 was only running long enough for Piastri to set the fastest time when it was red-flagged – and the cause was his team mate.

While Piastri was approaching the final corner, Norris had run too deep into turn four, thumped across the kerb and slid into the barrier. He reported he was unhurt, but the left-hand side of his MCL39 was extensively damaged and his qualifying session was over. “Fucking idiot,” he cursed.

When the session resumed, Verstappen and Sainz made sure they got banker laps in, heading out immediately to start a run. It paid off for Verstappen as he snatched the fastest time away from Piastri by a thousandth of a second, despite complaining of low grip at the first corner. “The tyres were not ready,” race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase advised.

Verstappen then dashed back into the pits for a fresh set of rubber. Meanwhile the rest of the drivers had joined the track.

By the time Verstappen came back around to finish his final lap, he was down to third place. Russell had produced another strong lap to lay his claim to pole position, only to see Piastri beat it. Verstappen lost a little time in the middle of the lap but claimed it back at the end, snatching pole away from Piastri by just a hundredth of a second.

Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari fourth while Andrea Kimi Antonelli ensured both Mercedes will start in the top five. Hamilton salvaged seventh but was out-qualified by the driver he replaced at Ferrari, Sainz, in his Williams. Norris stands to line up 10th behind Tsunoda and Gasly.

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Q3 result

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