#SaudiArabianGP Qualifying: @SChecoPerez takes pole as @Max33Verstappen hits trouble. #F1

Perez Saudi Arabian GP Pole – Red Bull’s Sergio Perez claimed pole position in qualifying at the Saudi Arabian GP as early pole favourite Max Verstappen was knocked out in Q2 due to a driveshaft problem.

 

 

The reigning world champion topped all three practice sessions and was quickest in Q1 by half-a-second over team-mate Perez as the result of qualifying looked to be predictable.

 

Verstappen suffered a slide on his initial flying lap to post a competitive time in Q2, but aborted it to prepare for another effort, then as he spooled up, lost drive through sector two and reported he could no longer accelerate.

 

The Dutchman slowly travelled back to the garage, but his exit from his RB19 cockpit was quick when it was clear he could not continue with the session. The Milton Keynes based-outfit reported a mechanical failure of his driveshaft was the problem.

 

Given his incredible advantage – Verstappen’s shock elimination ensured that the fight for pole position will be open – although Perez had the advantage thanks to Red Bull’s overall pace.

 

In Q3, Perez claimed provisional pole during the initial flyers with a 1:28.265 effort and was quicker than Leclerc by 0.492 seconds.

 

This laid down the battle for the other drivers to challenge, as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was first to attempt – but lost three tenths in the last sector to slot behind Perez in the classification.

 

The other Aston Martin AMR23 entry of Lance Stroll was quickest of all in sector one, watching Perez closely through the next part of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, but lost half a second in the final part of the tour to throw away any chance of a surprise pole position.

 

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the last contender to try and trounce the Mexican for P1 but was only 0.155 adrift by the end of the flyer – but it proved to be enough for the Monegasque driver to clinch second on the time-sheets ahead of Alonso.

 

Leclerc, however, starts ten places back due to a grid penalty, for taking on a new control electronics for the second Grand Prix of the season outside of his set allowance.

 

Perez’s initial effort was more than enough to earn his second F1-career pole position – his first at last year’s event in Jeddah.

 

Alonso’s best time was 0.455 off of Perez’s benchmark and the double world champion took third, in-front of Mercedes’ George Russell who was fourth.

 

The other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz overcame a Q2 scare, in which he needed to try another hot-lap to break into the top ten shootout, to take fifth in the classification and starts on the second row of the grid alongside Russell due to his team-mate Leclerc’s aforementioned penalty with Stroll starting fifth.

 

BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon took seventh fastest ahead of Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton who was eighth, whilst McLaren’s Oscar Piastri made his first F1 Q3 appearance and placed ninth, beating the other Alpine A523 of Pierre Gasly to a spot in the fourth row of the grid once penalties are applied.

 

In the second qualifying segment, which was topped by Perez, after a late improvement from Gasly, Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg was shuffled down into 11^th and in-front of Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu who took 12^th and the other VF-23 Haas entry of Kevin Magnussen who placed 13^th.

 

The second Alfa Romeo C43 entry of Valtteri Bottas ended Q2 in 14^th as the aforementioned reigning world champion Verstappen was hit with a suspected driveshaft issue and wound-up 15^th.

 

In the first qualifying stage, which was topped by Verstappen, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda was the quickest of the Q1 eliminatees in 16^th and ahead of Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon who took 17^th and the other AlphaTauri AT04 entry of Nyck de Vries who placed 18^th.

 

McLaren’s Lando Norris and Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant brought up the rear with the former forced to not set a final flyer after hitting the wall at the final corner with his front-left wheel and the latter stopping out on track and also having a lap-time invalidated for exceeding track limits by slightly crossing the pit-lane entry line.

 

You can see the full Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023 Qualifying Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2023/races/1142/saudi-arabia/qualifying.html

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2023 Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying – The Top Three

 

 

2023 Saudi Arabian GP Pole Position – Sergio Perez, #11, Oracle Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT, RB19, 1:28.265:

“It was tricky, that Q3. It’s a shame, Max has been really strong all weekend, as you know with these cars problems can happen at any time.”

 

2^nd Place – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF-23, +0.155 (Starts 12^th due to penalty):

“Happy, yes and no. On one hand it’s been a very difficult weekend in terms of pace for us. I’m happy with my lap, I put everything in it. But Red Bull are on another planet. Tomorrow won’t be easy with the ten-place grid penalty, starting further back.”

 

3^rd Place – Fernando Alonso, #14, Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team-Mercedes, AMR23 +0.455:

“Qualifying was a weak point in Bahrain but today the car performed very well on one lap. Tomorrow let’s see what we can do, starting on the front row is amazing. We are confident, the car felt very strong, the strongest part on the car is the long run pace so we should be better on Sunday than Saturday.”

 

In the earlier FP3 session, it was a Red Bull one-two with Verstappen topping the time-sheets ahead of team-mate Perez with Aston Martin pairing Alonso and Stroll third and fourth places respectively as Hamilton rounded out the top five for Mercedes. You can see the full Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023 Free Practice 3 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2023/races/1142/saudi-arabia/practice-3.html