Saudi Arabia Qualifying Reaction
Image: Red Bull Media
As the sun set on a bustling paddock and a long, gusty and winding track, the timing table took its final form - displaying those whose grit and bravery around the world’s fastest street circuit landed them the top places on the starting grid on Sunday.
Sergio Pérez will start at the very front of the grid for the all-important night race.
Let’s delve into how each session treated our twenty drivers:
Q1
Q1 was a qualifying session of a few spins, barrier-collisions and lap deletion, setting the precedent for a thrilling Q2, Q3, and (chiefly) race as the night drew in.
Alpha Tauri and McLaren, much like in their prior qualifying sessions at the season opener two weeks ago, both had a similarly weak Q1 - with both Alpha Tauri drivers missing out on Q2. Norris found himself out of the session due to damage, with his now second Australian teammate making it through to Q2.
Lando Norris also had a run-in with the barriers as he misplaced the front-left wheel of his MCL60 at the track’s 27th and final corner, having to limp home to the pits for repairs.
De Vries had a scary spin at Turn 1, though the Dutchman handled it expertly by avoiding any contact with the ever-close walls at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit:
Staying with the Red Bull family, the main team’s star driver Max Verstappen managed an impressive 1:28.761 on the scarlet soft tyres, clearly feeling at home in his RB19.
With less than 5 minutes of the session remaining, a yellow flag was put out as Williams’ Logan Sargeant found himself facing backwards after a 180-degree spin caused by the large kerb of Turn 23. Much like De Vries, the American managed to not collide with a wall, the only damage his car suffered being to the soft compound tyres.
In order, the five drivers eliminated in Q1 were: Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon, Nyck de Vries, Lando Norris and Logan Sargeant.
Q2
The day’s second qualifying session began hastily, with a competitive Alonso beating Max’s previous fastest lap by 0.004s, setting a time of 1:28.757.
Verstappen encountered an unexpected engine issue at the start of the track’s second sector, having to slowly but surely nurse his car back to the pit lane. A driveshaft issue was reportedly the cause of the problem, as Red Bull mechanics rushed to fix the car. This urgency would ultimately be in vain, however, as Max became the first person to be eliminated in the session.
Sergio Pérez would end up clinching the purple lap of the session with a 1:28.635, pipping Alonso by just over a tenth of a second.
Alfa Romeo would have a disappointing session, with neither of the drivers able to find a top-10 place on the timing sheets.
Out in Q2, then: Nico Hulkenberg, Zhou Guanyu, Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen.
Q3
With Alonso once again fastest out the gate, Ferrari’s Leclerc wasted no time in taking the fastest lap off the Spaniard as the session got underway.
George Russell faced some strife after taking too much kerb at the start of his lap and causing some seemingly notable damage to the floor of his car.
Pérez once again showed his pace as he put in the fastest lap of not only Q3 but of qualifying as a whole - with a seriously speedy lap of 1:28.265, with purple sectors 2 and 3.
Lance Stroll’s outing sparked excitement in the Aston Martin garage as the potential for a front-row grid position arose. He went purple in the first sector, however his lap wasn’t meant to be - small errors in the second and third sectors eventually placed him 6th on the grid for the race.
Charles Leclerc swooped in to steal the second-fastest lap as the chequered flag fell for Q3, although a 10-place grid penalty (specifically due to the installation of a third allocated power unit) means that he will start Sunday’s race in 12th position.
Final Qualifying Results
So, with all three sessions completed, what does the starting grid for the Grand Prix look like? See below:
1 - Sergio Pérez (MEX)
2 - Charles Leclerc (MCO) (+10, aggr. 12th)
3 - Fernando Alonso (ESP)
4 - George Russell (GBR)
5 - Carlos Sainz (ESP)
6 - Lance Stroll (CAN)
7 - Esteban Ocon (FRA)
8 - Lewis Hamilton (GBR)
9 - Oscar Piastri (AUS)
10 - Pierre Gasly (FRA)
11 - Nico Hulkenberg (DEU)
12 - Zhou Guanyu (CHN)
13 - Kevin Magnussen (DNK)
14 - Valtteri Bottas (FIN)
15 - Max Verstappen (NED)
16 - Yuki Tsunoda (JPN)
17 - Alexander Albon (THA)
18 - Nyck de Vries (NED)
19 - Lando Norris (GBR)
20 - Logan Sargeant (USA)
Stay tuned for more content on the Saudi Arabian GP here on Race Reaction.
