Saudi Arabia - Qualifying

Another week brings another race. This one is the last showing of the first triple-header of the season, held in the hot Saudi Arabian air. The last two weekends were marked by McLaren's domination. But can the team keep their streak of success going? 

After the first series of runs, the McLaren dominance seemed strong as ever, with both Piastri and Norris managing to put together laps much faster than those of Verstappen and Russell behind them. The odds tipped further in their favour as Norris lowered the benchmark time on his second attempt. The final series of flying laps was as tense as it could be. At least three drivers brushed against walls on their attempts. Although the incidents didn't disrupt the session, their cars still had to be checked for damage. The only driver who had a more consequence-heavy incident was Gabriel Bortoleto, who spun on his last attempt. The yellow flag that his incident caused was cleared after only a few seconds, but he didn't get to finish his timed attempt and qualified 20th. Stroll, Doohan, Hulkenberg, Ocon, and Bearman joined him in the elimination zone. 

As Q2 began, Norris noted an effort quicker than any of his opponents could manage. Verstappen stayed right on his heels, with Piastri and Russell also being separated by quite small margins. The same couldn't be said about the Ferraris. Throughout the whole session, the two drivers in red were a long way behind their rivals, and as it drew to a close, Hamilton barely avoided being knocked out. He finished Q2 10th, with only Albon, Lawson, Alonso, Hadjar, and Bearman behind him. 

Piastri was the only driver who managed to finish a lap before his teammate brought out the red flag. Norris went wide over a curb by turn 4 and put his McLaren in the wall, effectively killing his hopes of outqualifying Piastri. The session was resumed at 9:21pm local time, but due to the extensive damage to his car, he wasn't able to join it. 

Verstappen didn't wait long before driving out. His first timed attempt was good enough to beat the only time on board. As he drove down to the pits to bolt on a new set of softs, Russell managed a great lap of his own. He wasn't on the provisional pole for long as Piastri's second attempt put him back on the front. But the top ten shootout wasn't done quite yet. On his second flying lap, Verstappen was even quicker and, in the end, the pole belonged to him. He pushed Piastri and Russell to 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Leclerc and Antonelli closed the top 5. 

In a rather surprising turn of events, not only did the pole not belong to a McLaren, but only one of the papaya cars could be found in the top 5. With how quick the car can be around the circuit, will Norris and Piastri be able make up for their mistakes? 

Order of the grid:

1. Max Verstappen

2. Oscar Piastri

3. George Russell

4. Charles Leclerc

5. Kimi Antonelli

6. Carlos Sainz

7. Lewis Hamilton

8. Yuki Tsunoda

9. Pierre Gasly

10. Lando Norris

11. Alex Albon

12. Liam Lawson

13. Fernando Alonso

14. Isack Hadjar

15. Oliver Bearman

16. Lance Stroll

17. Jack Doohan

18. Nico Hulkenberg

19. Esteban Ocon

20. Gabriel Bortoleto