In the Saudi Arabian F1 Grand Prix qualifying session, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen secured pole position with a lap time of 1:27.472, leaving no doubts about his dominance. Charles Leclerc of Scuderia Ferrari and Sergio Perez of Red Bull Racing claimed second and third positions respectively, both over three-tenths of a second behind Verstappen. It seems that the Dutch driver has already set his sights on the race victory. Unfortunately, Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu, after losing control and crashing in the third practice session, was unable to improve his time in qualifying. Although his car was eventually repaired by the team, there simply wasn’t enough time left.
In Q1, young Ferrari driver Biamante, substituting for Sainz, impressed with a 1:28.984 on his first flying lap, temporarily placing fourth. At this point, some drivers had yet to venture out for their hot laps.
Sauber F1 Team was frantically repairing Zhou’s car following his crash in the third practice. With five minutes and nineteen seconds remaining in Q1, Zhou’s car remained in the garage.
At the end of Q1, Verstappen topped the timesheets with a 1:28.171. Aston Martin’s Stroll improved to second place with his final flying lap. The five drivers eliminated in Q1 were Bottas, Ocon, Gasly, Sargeant, and Zhou Guanyu, who, despite his car being repaired just in time, missed out by four seconds and couldn’t complete a final flying lap.
As Q2 began, Haas F1 Team’s Hulkenberg encountered a gearbox issue, getting stuck in fifth gear, forcing him to stop in the runoff area. The red flag was shown, and all drivers returned to the pits.
After the red flag was lifted, drivers re-entered the track to prepare for their final flying laps in Q2, with some still needing to set valid times.
Biamante of Scuderia Ferrari narrowly missed out on advancing to Q3, finishing just 0.036 seconds slower than tenth-placed Hamilton. Other drivers eliminated in Q2 were Albon, Magnussen, Ricciardo, and Hulkenberg.
In Q3’s opening flying lap, Aston Martin’s Alonso set an astonishing 1:27.988, pushing the car beyond its apparent limits.
In the final lap of Q3, Verstappen didn’t improve his time, but his 1:27.472 was more than enough to leave his rivals trailing.
Let’s now review the final qualifying results. That concludes our coverage of the Saudi Arabian F1 Grand Prix qualifying. If you enjoyed this article, please consider liking and subscribing for more. And if you have different opinions, feel free to share them in the comments section.
