by The Mexican driver of Red Bull, Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez, stayed this Saturday with the pole position of the Saudi Arabian GP, after setting the best time, beating Charles Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), second and third, respectively.
Despite calmly dominating the first session, double world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) was eliminated in the second qualifying round due to meconium engine problems. The Dutchman suddenly lost power in Q2 and claimed over the radio, in a message in English, that he had “an engine problem.”
The young man now looks very diminished for the race on Sunday, and will start from fifteenth place in the urban circuit of Jeddah, where it is not easy to pass and recover positions, for which the Austrian squad will have to appeal again to strategy .
“I felt that the car was going incredible. It’s a shame that Max was left out so quickly,” said Pérez, who did not hide that a bittersweet feeling remained in the team due to the problem his partner had.
Alonso, for his part, will be on the front row of the grid looking to repeat the podium of two weeks ago at the Bahrain Grand Prix. On a different and fast track, the double world champion will try to maintain the high performance of Aston Martin.
It is worth mentioning that the Spaniard finished third in the qualifying test behind Leclerc, but the Ferrari driver will have to drop his position 10 places due to suspension.
The Monegasque, who had to retire in Bahrain, has to serve a penalty of ten places on the starting grid of the race because he replaced an electronic component in his car.
“It has been a good weekend for us. The car has performed very well, we’ll see what we can do from here. I am confident, the car is good and the race is our strongest point.” Alonso said at a press conference.
The second line, meanwhile, will be occupied by the British George Russell (Mercedes) and the English Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari), who limited the damage of the red team. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) will start seventh, just ahead of Australian rookie Oscar Piastri (McLaren), who will start from a remarkable eighth place in his second F1 race.
This is the starting grid of the Saudi Arabian GP
1. Sergio Perez
2. Fernando Alonso
3. George Russell
4. Carlos Sainz
5. L. Stroll
6. Esteban Ocon
7.Lewis Hamilton
8. O. Piastri
9.P.Gasly
10. Nico Hulkenberg
11.Zhou
12.Charle Leclerc
13. K. Magnussen
14. Valtteri Bottas
15. Max Verstappen.
16.Yuki Tsunoda
17. A. Albon
18. N. De Vries
19. Nando Norris
20. L. Sargeant
The race will be held this Sunday, March 17, at the Jeddah Corniche circuit, and will have a total of 50 laps. This grand prize will start at 12:00 in the afternoon (Colombian time) and will be broadcast live on Star +.
