Saudi Arabia '25: Quali Recap

Q1

As the drivers rolled in for the 5th qualifying session, Alex Albon went to the top of the time sheets. He was quickly replaced by Lando Norris, who was one of the evening’s favourites for pole position. The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda ran 3rd and 4th, but George Russell slotted in between and soon broke up the pairing. The real competition was between the 2 McLarens, as Oscar Piastri scraped the P1 spot by 7 milliseconds against his teammate. 

The VCARB rookie Isack Hadjar bounced into the wall at the exit of the last corner, and with only 5 minutes left of Q1, changes had to be made. The dawning elimination loomed over the back of the pack, and many last ditch attempts were carried out to save them. Confusion set in when Pierre Gasly’s Alpine was released with one of its tyre blankets still on; the tiredness of the triple header is definitely setting in. Despite this, the French driver was still able to set a final fast lap and save himself from a bottom 5 spot on the grid. Liam Lawson and Ollie Bearman joined him in some brilliant escape efforts from the clutches of Q1. It was scarily close for Lewis Hamilton, who managed to push up to 9th at the last second. 

Q2

A bit too eager to confirm his Q2 spot, Lawson caused havoc for Kimi Antonelli with an unsafe pit release which was noted for investigation. Piastri was zooming through the intricate 2nd sector, but was beaten by 0.161 seconds moments later by the rapid Verstappen. Lando Norris took back the top spot for McLaren, using a Red Bull’s slipstream on the main straight to his advantage. 

The pressure of mistake-making was highlighted by Verstappen, as he hit the curb hard in the area of turn 4 into turn 5. He later returned to the pits to have a check over the car’s underside (more specifically the condition of the plank). 

Lawson was back in the picture when he out ran Hamilton, pushing him out of the top 10. Unfortunately for Liam, the lap wasn’t strong enough this time, and the Ferrari driver’s last lap moved him up to 8th. Tsunoda pushed Albon down to the elimination zone, making this the 2nd time his teammate Carlos Sainz has out-qualified him this year. Meanwhile Lawson, Alonso, Hadjar, and Bearman, also could not get a top 10 pace out of their cars. 

Q3

Oscar Piastri began his first flying lap of Q3, weaving mercilessly through the tight track corners. Not long after the beginning of the section, Norris embarked on his first push lap, ready to secure pole (or at least a top 3 grid position). However a slight clip of the curb, combined with a rise in understeer, and an eventual snap, caused the MCL39 to collapse into the dragging barrier on the other side. His dreams of a pole position were crushed, alongside his front left wheel. 

After checking their friend and competitor was okay, a battle for the front slot ensued between Piastri and Verstappen. The red flag period caused by Norris’ crash delayed the session, but was soon solved and the cars quickly returned to the Jeddah circuit. Williams’ Carlos Sainz evaded elimination and went into Q3 seeming ready for business, but was still 1.5 seconds behind the pace set by Piastri. Verstappen claimed a new fastest time with 5 minutes to go, matching (and then beating) the so far dominant McLaren pace. He still complained about the lack of traction in turn 1, as Russell entered the conversation once again with an improved lap time. Carlos Sainz pulled his now confidently driven car into P6, his best qualifying yet for the Williams team. Meanwhile, Piastri and Verstappen were ready to go again. Both drivers struggled to better their times in the middle sector, but ultimately the car “came alive” for Max Verstappen, as he set the fastest lap ever recorded at the track: a condensed 1.27.294 seconds. 

Photo credits: "2024-08-25 Motorsport, Formel 1, Großer Preis der Niederlande 2024 STP 3807 by Stepro (cropped)" by Steffen Prößdorf is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.