Sergio Perez continued Red Bull Racing’s dominance at the beginning of the new season, claiming pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after power issues hit his teammate and reigning champion Max Verstappen.
Verstappen had been the favourite for pole after topping all three practice sessions in Jeddah, but a suspected driveshaft issue in the second phase of qualifying (Q2) means he will start Sunday’s race in 15th.
Perez took advantage of Verstappen’s absence from the final qualifying phase (Q3) to take pole position at the same venue he topped qualifying for 12 months ago for the first time in his career.
The Mexican was 0.155 seconds faster than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who will drop 10 places to 12th due to his grid penalty for going over the limit with engine components.
Leclerc’s penalty means that Fernando Alonso will start beside Perez on the front row of the grid on Sunday. George Russell will line up in third in his Mercedes, while the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr. will start fourth, ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton could only manage seventh as he ended up nearly half a second behind his Mercedes teammate, Russell. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri impressed by making it to the third quarter for the first time and will start in the eighth.
STARTING GRID
Perez and Alonso sharing the front row, Leclerc and Verstappen battling through the field… a mouthwatering race in store ????#SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/KfQAwjeR9r
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 18, 2023
Pierre Gasly (ninth) and Nico Hulkenberg (tenth) completed the top 10 in their Alpine and Haas, respectively.
It was a terrible qualifying session for Lando Norris, who will start in the 19th after damaging his McLaren when he clipped the wall on his first run in Q1.
