The Dutchman dominated all three sessions as he took pole at Jeddah. He was closely followed by Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari and his teammate Sergio Perez who rounded off the top three in the Middle East.
Qualifying One
Mercedes opened up qualifying in a surprising manner as they decided to try their cars on medium tyres. They did this to save a set of soft tyres ahead of tomorrow’s grand prix. However, with the two cars in 13th and 14th after their run on the mediums, they had to revert to the soft tyres. Verstappen dominated the early laps as he took P1 in the session. Aston Martin showed impressive signs also, as Lance Stroll took P2 and Alonso P5. Debutant Ollie Bearman was extremely impressive, as the driver went comfortably through to Q2 in P9, a fantastic moment for the young driver after being thrown into the seat extremely last minute with no experience in the sport. Alpine and Sauber’s struggles from Bahrain unfortunately continued in Jeddah. For Sauber, an issue with Zhou Guanyu’s car meant he was not able to set a lap time and will start P20 tomorrow. Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas could not get a solid lap in after he was blocked on his flying lap meaning he will start P16. Alpine struggled massively again, and driving pair Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly will start P17 and 18 as their torrid start to the season continues. The other driver to be eliminated was Williams’ Logan Sargeant who will start in P19.
Qualifying Two
Nico Hulkenberg was the unfortunate driver to suffer in Q2, as on his first flying lap his car suffered an issue which saw the driver lose all power in the car. Hulkenberg would not be able to set a lap as his issue was terminal, causing a red flag early in the session. His teammate Kevin Magnussen also struggled in the session, and his best lap only got him P13 as he was eliminated along with his teammate. Bearman’s dreams of a debut Q3 appearance were shattered by the smallest of margins as he finished P11, just behind the Aston Martin of Stroll who just managed to grab his place in the final qualifying session. Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon joined these drivers being eliminated at the top, as they finished P14 and P12 respectively. As far as at the top, Verstappen yet again topped the charts, closely followed by Charles Leclerc in P2. It was also an impressive session from Yuki Tsunoda, as he guided his Visa Cash App RB car into P9 to claim a Q3 appearance.
Qualifying Three
It was finally crunch time in Jeddah, as the ten remaining cars battled it out for pole position in the Middle East. Verstappen took control after the opening runs as he opened up a gap to the rest of the pack. A gap that he would maintain the whole session as his 1:27:472 was enough to take pole position in Jeddah. Leclerc was able to split the Red Bulls as he came home in P2, with Sergio Perez completing the top three. Alonso ended his impressive qualifying in P4 with his teammate Stroll only managing P10 after a poorer final session from the Canadian. Behind Alonso came the two pairs of McLaren and Mercedes drivers, as Oscar Piastri out-qualified his teammate Lando Norris as they took P5 and 6. George Russell also edged ahead of Lewis Hamilton to round off the top eight drivers. Tsunoda managed to beat Stroll as he took P9 yet again to round off another fantastic qualifying session in Saudi Arabia.
Driver to Watch
Although he only finished in 11th, it will be extremely interesting to see how Ollie Bearman performs in his first race. His qualifying performance was very impressive, and his car is certainly capable of climbing up the order in the race. The Formula Two star will have all eyes on his race tomorrow, as he looks to give a good first impression in Formula One whilst he stands in for Carlos Sainz who is unwell.