LIVE Qualifying Updates: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
- Peter Johnson
- 5 hours ago
- 7 min read
By Peter Johnson
19:22 That's it for Quali then. World Champion Max Verstappen is tonight's big winner, while Championship leader Lando Norris is the night's biggest loser. The prizes are given out on Sunday, though, and it's still all to play for. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix gets underway at 18:00 BST tomorrow.
19:18 A word from your pole sitter, Max Verstappen: "I definitely didn't expect to be on Pole after FP3, but the car came alive. We made some final changes and it was a lot more enjoyable to drive. Tomorrow in the race it will be tough to keep them behind but we're going to give it a good go."
19:15 Not an enjoyable evening for Lewis Hamilton, who shakes his head at the sight of the timing screens. He will start seventh tomorrow, having set a lap time almost a second off Verstappen's Pole time.
19:14 It has only ever happened once before in Formula One history, but if the top ten were to finish as they start tomorrow, Lando Norris would drop to joint-third in the standings.
19:13 The top ten in full: 1 Verstappen; 2 Piastri; 3 Russell; 4 Leclerc; 5 Antonelli; 6 Sainz; 7 Hamilton; 8 Tsunoda; 9 Gasly; 10 Norris
19:12 Four teams in the top four spots for tomorrow's Grand Prix, with Piastri, Russell and Leclerc lining up behind Verstappen on the grid.
19:11 MAX VERSTAPPEN TAKES POLE POSITION! He nudges in front of Oscar Piastri by just one one-hundredth of a second, setting an all-time lap record in Jeddah in the process.
19:09 Verstappen goes even quicker through the first sector. Piastri takes provisional pole by a tenth, but Verstappen is right there!
19:08 Russell cuts the beam to go a tenth and a half ahead of Verstappen. Piastri is a further half a tenth up on Russell's time after the first sector.
19:07 George Russell will be the first man to post his final lap. He is a tenth and a half up on Verstappen after the first sector.
19:06 Verstappen will make a racing pit stop to throw on another set of new soft tyres, as everybody else limbers up to submit a lap time. One more attempt for everybody.
19:05 My, oh my. Max Verstappen takes provisional pole by ONE ONE-THOUSANDTH of a second.
19:04 Verstappen, Sainz and Gasly are the only three of the remaining nine drivers on track. Both Ferraris, both Mercedes, Tsunoda and Piastri will just go for one lap right at the end.
19:02 It turns out that Verstappen never started a flying lap on his new set of tyres, which means perhaps those tyres are still capable of a competitive time.
19:01 Green light once more at the end of the pit lane and Carlos Sainz is straight back out there.
19:00 As evenly matched as the two McLarens have been over one lap this season, Norris had appeared to have an extra ounce of speed over Piastri so far this weekend. A real opportunity lost, you feel. Meanwhile, one of Verstappen or Russell is now looking at a front-row start.
18:56 There were 8 minutes and 32 seconds left on the clock when the red flag was thrown, with only Oscar Piastri having set a lap time so far. Verstappen and Russell were both on brand-new sets of tyres, but weren't able to post a flying lap on them.
18:55 Norris got up on the kerb at the left-handed flick of Turn 5, which spat his car into the wall at the exit of 6. He's destroyed the front left suspension and is perhaps lucky not to have caused more damage to his car. That is a small comfort indeed, because he will start no higher than tenth for tomorrow's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
18:53 A fraction of a second after Oscar Piastri laid down a benchmark time, the feed cuts away to his Championship-leading teammate in the wall. A potentially huge moment in Formula One in 2025.
18:51 RED FLAG!! LANDO NORRIS IS IN THE WALL!!!
18:50 Common sense would still say that one of the McLarens is likely to take pole, but Verstappen and Russell are very much in the frame here.
18:48 Q3 is under way, and it's the exact same ten drivers fighting for pole as in Bahrain last week.
18:46 Lando Norris set the fastest time in Q2, 0.048 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen. However, as was the case with Verstappen's pole lap in Japan, Norris did not set any purple sectors.
18:43 Alex Albon will be bitterly disappointed with that. He has been a consistent top-ten runner so far this weekend and misses out on Q3 by 11 thousandths of a second behind Lewis Hamilton.
18:42 Eliminated in Q2: 11 Albon; 12 Lawson; 13 Alonso; 14 Hadjar; 15 Bearman
18:41 Liam Lawson, who has not enjoyed Qualifying this year, looks briefly as though he may make it into Q3 but shuffles back down the order. Yuki Tsunoda and Lewis Hamilton left it late to get through, the latter scraping by in tenth.
18:40 Oliver Bearman cannot improve so we will not see his Haas in Q3. Hadjar does improve, but only to 11th.
18:39 Kimi Antonelli, who was in danger in tenth, leaps to fifth. His Mercedes teammate George Russell remains fourth.
18:38 Two minutes of the session remain and Gasly, Bearman, Hadjar, Alonso and Lawson need to find time.
18:37 Alex Albon lifts his Williams to P6 with the track pretty much to himself. The rest of the drivers are either emerging from the pit lane for another go or are still in the garage.
18:34 Less faff from Ferrari in this session, with Leclerc and Hamilton sitting fifth and seventh respectively.
18:33 After the first runs, the bottom five are: 11 Albon; 12 Bearman; 13 Hadjar; 14 Alonso; 15 Lawson
18:32 Norris is the last front runner to set a time in Q2 and goes five hundredths clear of Verstappen. Norris, Verstappen and Piastri are your top three but were the only runners to use new tyres that time around. George Russell, currently in fourth in his Mercedes, is sitting quite pretty.
18:30 Piastri goes six tenths clear of the Williams of Sainz, but Verstappen is looking very strong on his lap. The Dutchman shaves another two tenths off Piastri's time.
18:28 Alex Albon is the first man to get a time on the board in Q2. It's been a strong weekend so far for Williams - both Albon and teammate Carlos Sainz were in the top ten in each of the three practice sessions.
18:26 Everybody is straight out on track in Q2 with the exception of Lando Norris. We didn't see any red flags in Q1, but maybe according to the law of averages that means we're more likely to see one in this session?
18:25 Lance Stroll has stayed in his Aston Martin on the off-chance that somebody ahead of him may have had their lap time deleted. No such news has come through though, and Q2 begins without the Canadian.
18:21 Just to shed some light on the reason that Lewis Hamilton may have been struggling, Ferrari have gone for a low-drag set up around Jeddah. Both Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc have been rapid in a straight line, but are lacking downforce in the corners - which is proving problematic, given there are 27 of them around here.
18:20 Eliminated in Q1: 16 Stroll; 17 Doohan; 18 Hülkenberg; 19 Ocon; 20 Bortoleto
18:19 Hamilton improves to ninth and will be safe. Stroll and Doohan are unable to climb out of the top five, while a spin for Gabriel Bortoleto at Turn 1 scuppered his chances of improving on P20.
18:19 The chequered flag is out, these are the laps that will count.
18:18 Pierre Gasly brushes the wall at the final corner but jumps from 18th to ninth. Lewis Hamiton, currently 15th, is improving again.
18:17 There are a lot of green sectors on show here, there will be a lot of chopping and changing in these final stages. Verstappen goes quickest.
18:15 Piastri and Verstappen, currently an ostensibly safe second and third, have both taken to the track again. It would take a lot of track evolution to see those two in danger, but if that were to be the case then it is anybody's guess as to who might be eliminated.
18:13 With just over four minutes to go in Q1, the bottom five are: 16 Doohan; 17 Lawson; 18 Gasly; 19 Ocon; 20 Bortoleto
18:12 Hamilton does improve, but only to P10. He is lacking fundamental pace in his car, losing half a second to Norris's McLaren in the first sector alone.
18:11 Sainz and Bearman both improve, as Lewis Hamilton slips down to 17th place. He is back out on track for another go.
18:09 Everybody except the RB of Liam Lawson has set a lap time so far. Bearman, Sainz, Bortoleto and Ocon are the four with the slowest times on the board.
18:08 Yuki Tsunoda has looked rather competitive this weekend and his first run is just two-tenths slower than his teammate, World Champion Max Verstappen. Piastri goes just seven THOUSANDTHS of a second ahead of Norris - the pair are so evenly matched.
18:06 Lewis Hamilton's first effort sees his Ferrari split Alex Albon and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso. The seven-time champion has had a very difficult weekend so far and was over a second off the pace in FP2 and FP3.
18:04 Alex Albon in the Williams is the very early pace setter, until Lando Norris smacks in a time almost a second quicker than anybody else.
18:03 Oliver Bearman sets off on his first flying lap for Haas. He took Pole position in F2 here last year, but never made the start of either race because he was somewhat preoccupied in Carlos Sainz's Ferrari.
18:02 In fact, a great number of drivers have already headed out of their garages to get a lap time on board. In just four previous events, the Jeddah Corniche Circuit has developed something of a reputation for generating red flags and some teams are clearly mitigating for the possibility of a disruption at some point this session.
18:00 We have a green light at the end of the pit lane and the Haas of Esteban Ocon is the first man out on track.
17:57 Predictably, McLaren have looked the fastest team so far this weekend. Championship leader Lando Norris edged out his teammate Oscar Piastri in FP2 and FP3, while Alpine's Pierre Gasly headed the field in FP1.
17:55 Welcome along to Qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix! Every race in 2025 has so far been won and lost on Saturday, with the pole sitter winning each of the four Grands Prix and one sprint race so far this year. Who will put themselves at the head of the pack for tomorrow's dash around Jeddah?
Comentários