Max Verstappen is getting a taste for it. Following on from Japan, the four-time world champion snatched pole away from what looked like being another dominant qualifying performance from McLaren in Saudi Arabia. At the very last moment, Verstappen pipped Oscar Piastri by just ten thousandths of a second with a time of 1’27”294 for the Dutchman against 1’27”304 for the Australian.
In third place, having briefly been quickest, was George Russell with a lap in 1’27”407, while sharing the third row with the Mercedes driver will be Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, fourth in 1’27”670.
Apart from the first edition of this race in 2021, when Lewis Hamilton was fasting in qualifying for Mercedes, Red Bull has always taken pole at this track, in 2022 and 2023 with Sergio Perez and now for the last two years with Verstappen. It was his 42nd career pole, the 105th for Red Bull Racing.
The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to Verstappen by Anthony Anderson. The American actor was nominated for a Golden Globe two years in succession for his leading role in the TV series “Black-ish,” which he also produces. He currently hosts “We Are Family” on FOX TV. He has also appeared in film franchises including “Scary Movie,” “Transformers,” “Scream” and crime series, “Law & Order” and “The Shield.” His most recent role was in the film “G20” shown on Amazon Prime Video, which also stars Viola Davis.
Once again in the third free practice session, all driver studiously avoided the Hard, with just the Aston Martin and Racing Bulls drivers running their usual scrubbing in lap, the former also doing this with a set of Mediums.
Otherwise, red was the colour, with the sole exception of Gabriel Bortoleto, who used a set of Mediums to get used to the track, given that he had to miss FP2 yesterday because of a problem on his Sauber. All the other drivers used two sets each of the Soft.
Max Verstappen – Pole
“It is really nice but definitely unexpected to get pole today. The Team made some final adjustments going into Qualifying which allowed me to be a bit more comfortable in the car and attack the corners. Our progression in Qualifying was really nice: we tried to improve run by run and it felt good in the car and we made things a lot more comfortable. The tyres were overheating less which was positive, we found the right balance and when everything cooled down a bit, the car came alive at night. I’m really proud of the Team, after the red flag they stayed calm and chose the right strategy. I wasn’t entirely sure what the right call was and then GP came on the radio and the Team were definitely right. It is always a Team effort, all the engineers helped with this and helped improve on particular corners. I knew what I had to do to beat the lap record but it’s always extremely rewarding to put a good lap together here. Looking to tomorrow, it will be a bit more tricky as here you can pass if you have more pace. There are a few more DRS zones, so it will be difficult to keep everyone behind but we will give it everything that we have.”
Oscar Piastri – P2
“First of all, it’s great to see Lando is okay. Overall, I am happy with the job we did today. Being so close to Pole is frustrating but we didn’t have much more in it and Max did a great job. I think we can fight from where we are as our pace is good, so we’re in a strong position to challenge for the win. I think it’s going to be a tough but fun race.”
George Russell – P3
“P3 is a great result for us this evening. If you had offered us third before the session, I think we would have taken it. Seeing how tight the field was at the end of Q3 though, you do begin to think about where we might have found that extra tenth to claim pole. Nevertheless, we should be pleased. It was a tough session with the red flag taking away our first lap. The only thing that mattered then was that final effort and I think we did a good job to deliver a solid starting position for tomorrow.
“It is going to be a long race so we should be able to put our race pace to use. We looked competitive on Friday, even if Piastri in the McLaren looks to have an edge on the rest of the field and will be difficult to race. P3 gives us a chance to fight for the podium again and hopefully we can get on there for our fourth top three finish in the first five races of 2025.”
Mario Isola – Pirelli Director of Motorsport
“What a qualifying session that was, especially Q3! In the final five minutes pole position changed hands five times, and as further proof of how close is this season there are four drivers from four different teams in the top four places.
“Of course the Soft was the sole protagonist in qualifying, and on its debut here in Jeddah we saw that the C5 is competitive not just over the first flying lap, but also good for a second attempt.
“When it comes to strategies, we don’t feel the situation has changed since yesterday and it’s no coincidence that, although it’s not yet confirmed, the vast majority of drivers, 15 of the 20 to be precise, have all saved two sets of Hards. The C3 seems to offer the best performance and, without too much degradation a one-stop strategy is on paper the quickest way, with the order Medium-Hard being favourite, pitting between laps 14 and 20. There are a couple of reasons why many have opted to save two sets of this compound: firstly to be ready for any possible safety car situations, which have often been seen at this track and secondly, to have a backup in case there’s a significant step up in degradation tomorrow.
“Those starting from the back end of the grid might aim to make up positions by swapping the order of use of the compounds, (i.e. C4 then C3) pitting from lap 30. A two-stopper is not too far off in terms of total time taken, with a difference of around 5 seconds and would again involve using the C3 and C4. The C5 could be an option for drivers looking to make the most of its superior performance over the first few laps to make up places, or if there were to be a safety car in the closing stages of the race.”
