The “chopper” doesn't allow himself any breaks: Max Verstappen smashes the Jeddah track record, going under the limit of the 2021 pole with a time of 1'27″472 which was achieved with an average speed of over 254 km/h average! The Red Bull RB20 is the first car to break a record of the 2021 spaceships, clearly giving a sense of the potential of Adrian Newey's car.
Max gets his first pole start in the Saudi Arabian GP which is the second of the season and the 34th of his career: the Dutchman's supremacy has never been questioned and the first attempt in Q3 was enough for him to secure pole position. Verstappen edged out Charles Leclerc by 319 thousandths, but the Ferrari driver had the merit of putting the red car on the front row with a margin of just 15 thousandths over Sergio Perez.
The Monegasque achieved his goal of the front row with an SF-24 which was designed more for the race than for the flying lap. Ferrari, in fact, decided on the red with the most powerful wing, the same as in Bahrain, perhaps thinking that it could keep up with Max's pace in the race after a good long run in free practice. Charles accumulated half of the gap in the first section of the track where the red car suffers the most, while on the rest of the track it defends itself well.
It is a Scuderia that does not seek performance on the flying lap, but that aims for the result on Sunday when points are awarded. Charles has positioned himself as a wedge between the two RB20s and will have to try to maintain at least second place, knowing that the Mexican loves Jeddah and has done excellent preparation for the race.
Also close to the leaders is Fernando Alonso with the Aston Martin: the Spaniard is fourth with the “verdona” at ease in the flying lap, but less consistent in the long runs. The Silverstone team also managed to get Lance Stroll into the top 10, a sign that the AMR24 is better than what he showed in Bahrain.
The McLarens were expected as the possible surprises: in FP3 they had given the sensation that they had played a bit, but in the end the MCL38s emerged as the fourth force: Oscar Piastri was fifth ahead of Lando Norris by a few thousandths, a sign that the two drivers scraped the barrel of the papaya car.
Mercedes were disappointed as they aimed for the lowest configuration to find speed, but the W15 lacked load and George Russell paid eight tenths of Verstappen, followed by Lewis Hamilton who was decidedly closer to his teammate. The silver arrows are disappointing the expectations that were more belligerent at the beginning of the season.
Yuki Tsunoda's performance was very positive and brought the Racing Bulls to ninth position: the Japanese seems to want to take the team on his shoulders, given that he is regularly faster than Daniel Ricciardo.
Oliver Berman failed to get into Q3 on his F1 debut by 36 thousandths of a second over Lewis Hamilton. The 18-year-old Englishman, suddenly called to replace Carlos Sainz who was forced into hospital for appendicitis surgery. Ollie is 11th: the FDA baby exaggerated in the first run, touching the wall and making a couple of mistakes, while in the second attempt he had the chance to make two attempts, having a little more fuel. The boy came close to a miracle, but the team in the garage applauded him because he qualified with the red light after just one free practice session. It will be interesting to see him in the race…
In 12th place is Alexander Albon with the Williams FW46, less explosive in the flying lap compared to last year. The Anglo-Thai preceded the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and the Racing Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo who did not impress.
Nico Hulkenberg caused a red flag when there were still 11 minutes remaining in Q2: the German from Haas was forced to park his Vf-24 due to an electrical problem. The car stalled while in fourth gear and Mico was forced to park in an escape route. He was in a dangerous position and the race direction decided to block the session to allow the course marshals to move the car to a safe position. Without time he will be 15th on the starting grid.
The two Saubers did not leave Q1: Valtteri Bottas remained out for 72 thousandths and was 16th, while Guanyu Zhou was 20th without time: the mechanics tried to send him back on track after the accident in FP3 in which he demolished the wheels on the side left. The guys from Hinwil attempted a miracle and almost succeeded, as the Chinese managed to get onto the track, but saw the checkered flag waved before starting the timed lap.
The Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly are 17th and 18th: the A524 confirmed itself as the wrong car even on a track other than Bahrain. This time the two French drivers avoided the last row, but their ordeal continues: only in Australia will the first changes arrive to hope to get back on top.
Logan Sargeant also did badly and is 19th with Williams: the American didn't find a clean lap and paid for it…
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