Max Verstappen produced another scintillating qualifying lap to stun McLaren and claim pole position for Formula One’s 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix ahead of Oscar Piastri. Lando Norris crashed in Q3 in the other McLaren.
In vivid shades of his brilliant pole lap that was so critical to his victory in the Japanese Grand Prix two weeks ago, Verstappen produced another perfect, on-the-edge lap to force his way ahead of Piastri and Mercedes driver George Russell, who had each broken the Jeddah track record on their final Q3 runs.
“That’s kind of the story of our car right now,” Verstappen said. “It’s very hit or miss.”
Verstappen completed a unique Q3 run plan compared with the other front-runners. He went out early after Norris had crashed on the first runs of the session’s final three segments, and he completed two flying laps compared with just one for Piastri and Russell.
The first Verstappen flyer came in a 1:27.559s, which got him ahead of Piastri, who had been the only driver to complete a flying lap before Norris’s crash suspended the session. Verstappen then headed to the pits to complete a race-style pitstop for fresh tires, while the others used their final single shots to get ahead briefly.
But Verstappen produced the fastest time in the lap’s first sector and used the time gained there to hang on, as Russell clocked in quickest in the middle sector and Piastri the final third.
“It was a good lap,” Piastri said. “No regrets.” For his part, Russell said he felt there was “more on the table” for his final lap.
Behind the leaders came Charles Leclerc and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, with Carlos Sainz beating his Ferrari replacement Lewis Hamilton to sixth. Hamilton, who has looked out of sorts all weekend to this point, set his best time 0.6s slower than teammate Leclerc.
Yuki Tsunoda was eighth in the other Red Bull car, ahead of Pierre Gasly and the absent Norris. McLaren’s massive FP3 advantage disappeared as the track temperatures cooled in the night conditions.
How they qualified
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull
- Oscar Piastri, McLaren
- George Russell, Mercedes
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
- Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
- Carlos Sainz, Williams
- Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
- Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull
- Pierre Gasly, Alpine
- Lando Norris, McLaren
- Alex Albon, Williams
- Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
- Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
- Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls
- Ollie Bearman, Haas
- Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
- Jack Doohan, Alpine
- Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber
- Esteban Ocon, Haas
- Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber
What happened to Norris?
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Just as Piastri was setting his first flying lap in Q3, Norris’ qualifying was ending — as he’d smashed the left-hand side of his McLaren against the barriers lining Turns 4 and 5.
Norris, who had appeared the driver to beat just a week on from his mistake-strewn weekend in Bahrain, had attacked the Turn 4 exit too hard with pressure on from the fine form of Verstappen and Russell, let alone teammate Piastri. This complex of the Jeddah track features raised exit kerbs, and when Norris hit the gas very aggressively early after carrying a tremendous amount of speed into the super-fast left-hander, his McLaren was soon riding the kerbs hard.
Too hard.
The McLaren skipped briefly into the air and then snapped left even harder, pitching Norris into the barriers and out of pole contention. He will start Sunday’s race from 10th, barring any post-session penalties.
In a run of the championship where there is much interest in Norris’s relentless self-criticism, he declared himself a “f—— idiot” to his McLaren race engineer Will Joseph before climbing dejectedly from the wreckage.
Q2: Alonso, Albon, both Racing Bulls fail to advance
Norris led Q2 and was so confident in his position at this stage that he did not rejoin the track for the final runs, where Verstappen only completed an additional tour on used tires ahead of the critical final session.
Alex Albon was the highest faller-out in 11th for Williams, ahead of Liam Lawson. The Racing Bulls driver did not have a Q2 lap registered on the board before the final moments, but he was fast enough when it mattered to leap ahead of his teammate, Hadjar, and briefly get into the top 10 cutoff. Only the last-gasp improvements of Gasly and Tsunoda knocked him back, after which Lawson apologized to his team but declared his effort a “pretty damn good lap.”
Alonso, Hadjar and Bearman were the others to exit at this stage, with Bearman unable to set a personal best on his final flying lap as he had to wrestle his wayward Haas, with the car displaying clear signs of too much oversteer in some of Jeddah’s fastest corners.
Q1: Bortoleto spins out; Stroll and Ocon disappoint
In Q1, which Verstappen topped with a 1:27.778s lap while Norris was safely sitting in the pits having run earlier at this stage, Bortoleto had the most high-profile exit as he spun at the opening corners on what would’ve been his final lap. He bounced over the Turn 2 kerbs and stopped, facing the wrong way, with Verstappen having to jink around the stricken Sauber. Bortoleto was soon on his way, but he will start the race from last on the grid in his first F1 visit to Jeddah.
The other Q1 fallers were Stroll, Doohan and Hulkenberg in the other Sauber. Also eliminated was Haas driver Ocon, who had been the first to take to the track when the session got underway.
While the front-runners progressed unscathed, Hadjar and Albon were among the drivers calling for their teams to urgently check their cars for damage, as they both endured wall strikes on this fearsomely fast circuit. Hadjar whacked the wall exiting the final corner midway through Q1, while Albon’s moment came through the quick and flowing second sector. Gasly was another one to get very close to the final corner wall, although his most awkward moment in Q1 came when he tried to exit the Alpine garage ahead of the last runs in the opening segment with a tire warming blanket caught on his right front.
This story will be updated.
(Top photo: Sipa USA)
