Perez takes pole at Jeddah Corniche Circuit but Verstappen knocked out in Q2 with mechanical issue; penalty-effected Leclerc qualifies P2, resurgent Alonso P3
Saturday qualifying for Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix threw up a huge surprise, revising the plot of what seemed like a certain Red Bull lockout of the front row when the team’s top driver, reigning two-time World Champion Max Verstappen, suffered an abrupt and shocking end to his day midway through Q2 with what appeared to be a transmission issue. Despite effortlessly dominating in practice and the early phase of quali, Verstappen was bit by his first reliability issue of the nascent 2023 season and will be forced to fight his way to the front in tomorrow’s race where he will start way back in P15. With the dominant winner of the season opener two weeks ago in Bahrain sidelined prematurely here at the very tricky and technical Jeddah Corniche Street Circuit, that opened up a potential pole position to the other contenders like the resurgent Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and the always fast Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. But it was Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez who made the most of the Dutchman’s absence in Q3, doing just enough to hustle his car to the top of the time sheets and earn P1 for tomorrow’s race.
Leclerc managed to pip Alonso for P2 but the Monegasque will be hit with a 10-spot grid penalty for tomorrow’s race due to Ferrari already having changed out restricted power unit elements after only running one race, in his case a third electronics control unit. At least his Scuderia teammate Carlos Sainz qualified a decent P5 and has thankfully yet to take any penalties. Leclerc’s steep demotion will move the resurgent Alonso, who scored a podium on his debut for the much improved Aston team a fortnight ago, onto the front row alongside Perez come race day. George Russell handily bettered his senior Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton P4 to P8. Hamilton seems thoroughly nonplussed by the performance of his ride and there have got to be some queasy feelings on the Silver Arrows pit wall about the concept of this year’s car. The new W14 chassis has yet to show the promised improvements relative to Red Bull and Ferrari, and could well end up being only the fourth best team if Aston Martin’s performance upgrades are not just an early season mirage. As if to drive home that point, the second Aston of Lance Stroll followed up Alonso’s P3 effort with a decent Q3 time good enough for P6.
Rounding out the Top 10, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon also outpaced Hamilton in P7, while teammate Pierre Gasly was P10. And McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri recovered from his early DNF in the opening round to make it through to Q3 and then set an impressive lap time good enough for P9.
Top 10 qualifiers for the Saudi Arabian GP:
| POS | DRIVER | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:29.244 | 1:28.635 | 1:28.265 | |
| 2 | 1:29.376 | 1:28.903 | 1:28.420 | |
| 3 | 1:29.298 | 1:28.757 | 1:28.730 | |
| 4 | 1:29.592 | 1:29.132 | 1:28.857 | |
| 5 | 1:29.411 | 1:28.957 | 1:28.931 | |
| 6 | 1:29.335 | 1:28.962 | 1:28.945 | |
| 7 | 1:29.707 | 1:29.255 | 1:29.078 | |
| 8 | 1:29.689 | 1:29.374 | 1:29.223 | |
| 9 | 1:29.706 | 1:29.378 | 1:29.243 | |
| 10 | 1:29.890 | 1:29.411 | 1:29.357 |
Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.
Tomorrow’s night race airs live beginning at 1PM Eastern on ESPN2 here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out just how many risks Verstappen and Leclerc will take forcing their way to the front at what is sure to be a very tight and challenging street fight at Jeddah Corniche!