For the second year in a row, Sergio Perez was the fastest in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. World champion Max Verstappen dominated all practice sessions and the start of qualifying, but his drive shaft let him down and he will only start 15th.
As expected, Red Bull won Saturday’s qualifiers for the Sava Arabia Grand Prix, but it was not the Dutchman who finished on top, but the Mexican. For Sergio Perez this is only the second one pole position in his career, he won the first one in Jeddah a year ago.
Max Verstappen won the opening race of the season in Bahrain and was fastest in all three practice sessions and in the first part of qualifying, but then he suffered racing car failure. With visible problems in the second part of qualifying, the Dutchman still made it to the pits and only crawled out of it, and he will start Sunday’s race from the 15th starting position.
Four different vehicles in the first two rows
The Dutchman’s bad luck made the fight for the first starting place a bit more interesting. On the 6,174-meter-long track in Jeddah, they competed Sergio Perez made by Ferrari’s Monaco Charles Leclerc and a Spaniard Fernando Alonso from the Aston Martin team. But Leclerc will start ten places lower due to the engine change.
Sunday’s 50-lap race for a 308.5km race day will start at 6pm. George Russell and Carlos Sainz will start in the second starting row. Good qualifications were achieved by the Alpine team, which achieved the 7th and 10th times.
FORMULA ONE – WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
SAUDI ARABIAN GP, Jeddah
Qualifications/starting places:
1. S. PEREZ Red Bull 1:29,244
2. C. LECLERC * Ferrari +0,155
3. F. ALONSO Aston Martin 0,465
4. G. RUSSELL Mercedes 0,592
5. C. SAINZ Ferrari 0,666
6. L. STROLL Aston Martin 0,680
7. E. OCON Alpine 0,813
8. L. HAMILTON Mercedes 0,958
9. O. PIASTRI McLaren 0,978
10. P. GASLY Alpine 1,092
...
15. M. VERSTAPPEN Red Bull
* - zaradi menjave motorja bo startal
10 startnih mest nižje.
Source: Rtvslo
