Saudi Arabian GP - Qualifying

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STC Saudi Arabian GP

Qualifying 

Mar 8, 2024

Max Verstappen secures pole position in Saudi Arabia; Charles Leclerc edges out Perez for second place

In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Max Verstappen once again showcased his dominance by clinching the pole position at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Finishing with a comfortable lead of 0.319s, Verstappen left Ferrari's Charles Leclerc behind, who managed to secure the second spot on the grid by narrowly beating Sergio Perez and preventing an all-Red Bull front row.

"It was a very good day so far," Verstappen stated during an interview after the qualifying session. "We improved the car a little bit overnight and that gave me a bit more confidence to attack the high-speed corners and around here that affects your confidence in how much you can go to the limit, and I felt very comfortable with the car."

"Throughout qualifying it's crazy how fast you go around here and my lap in Q3 I as happy with how I did the lap ... it was very good I had a lot of fun, and the car was behaving really well." He added

Leclerc mentioned that Ferrari are not as close as they had expected. "The first lap in Q3 we tried something different doing a preparation lap but that didn't work out well for us," he said. "And then in the second lap I put everything together and that was what was in the car today.

"I'm really happy with the lap, shame we are a bit further away than what we hoped in qualifying but tomorrow is the race so hopefully we will have surprise and be able to challenge Red Bull.

He added "For sure, we did a step forward compared to last year, I feel more comfortable in the car and think the car is in a better place in race runs, so we just have to focus on ourselves and we cannot change the car now for tomorrow so we try and optimise everything else for the race and see what is possible tomorrow,"

Meanwhile, Perez, a teammate, stated: "We didn't get much of an improvement on the final lap which means we missed the front row but overall, I think Max had a tremendous lap, that wasn't possible for me today -- being on the front row was achievable but we are still in the fight for tomorrow."

Verstappen is already the overwhelming favourite to win a fourth straight title in 2024 and he will look to make it two wins from two this season on Saturday evening.

Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin will line up ahead of the McLarens, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes settling for the fourth row on the grid.

Oliver Bearman, a teenage Ferrari debutant brought in at short notice to replace Carlos Sainz due to appendicitis, qualified in 11th place after narrowly missing out on advancing to the final qualifying segment.

In Q2, Bearman finished just 0.036s behind seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who is set to join Ferrari next season in place of Sainz.

Following the session, the Englishman will have to see the stewards due to a procedural error during the initial qualifying segment.

At 18 years old, Bearman will become the third youngest driver to start an F1 race on Saturday evening.

Leclerc commented on Sainz's nonattendance, "First of all, I hope Carlos will recover quickly and then on Ollie's side he has done an incredible job only one session in FP3.

"He was straight up to speed and comfortable with the car so that's good and I'm happy for him, it's a very special day, and the first race in Ferrari having only one session is even more special so I hope we can have a great race both of us and score good points for the team."

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Saudi Arabian GP 2024 Qualifying Results

Disqualified from Q1

16. Valtteri Bottas, Sauber (1:29.179)

17. Esteban Ocon, Alpine (1:29.475)

18. Pierre Gasly, Alpine ( 1:29.479)

19. Logan Sargeant, Williams (1:29.526)

20. Zhou Guanyu (--)

Disqualified from Q2

11. Oliver Bearman, Ferrari (1:28.642)

12. Alexander Albon, Williams (1:28.980)

13. Kevin Magnussen, Haas (1:29.020)

14. Daniel Ricciardo, RB (1:29.025)

15. Nico Hülkenberg, Haas (1:29.055)

Top 10 Qualifying from Saudi Arabian GP 2024

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull (1:27.472)

2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (1:27.791)

3. Sergio Pérez, Red Bull (1:27.807)

4. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin (1:27.846)

5. Oscar Piastri, McLaren (1:28.089)

6. Lando Norris, McLaren (1:28.132)

7. George Russell, Mercedes (1:28.316)

8. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (1:28.460)

9. Yuki Tsunoda, RB (1:28.547)

10. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin (1:28.572)