Verstappen Snatches Pole for 2025 Saudi Arabian GP – Sport Grill

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen snatched pole position for the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in a dramatic climax to Qualifying.

Verstappen benefitted from a crash for Lando Norris in Q3 to snatch his second pole of the season in a dramatic climax to Qualifying, which saw provisional pole change hands three times in the final minute.

FP3

After he missed FP2 due to a fuel leak, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto was straight out on medium tyres and set 1m 32.160 as the initial benchmark but Alpine’s Jack Doohan then Haas’ Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman went quicker on the soft tyres, before Doohan posted 1m 29.666 to retake the fastest lap.

McLaren soon proceeded to set the pace as Piastri produced 1m 29.118 in the 17th minute to head Norris, until Red Bull’s Max Verstappen delivered 1m 29.077 to go 0.041 seconds quicker just three minutes later before Ferrari Charles Leclerc displaced the Dutchman with 1m 28.860 a further two minutes later.

Piastri however found himself fastest at the halfway mark with 1m 28.605 and 0.158s faster than Norris, as Leclerc soon traded the third-quickest lap with Verstappen.

With 16 minutes left on the clock, attention switched early to the soft-tyre qualifying simulations as Mercedes’ George Russell delivered 1m 28.214, but Piastri responded just seconds later with 1m 27.513 to reclaim the fastest lap as Norris went 0.158s slower than his Aussie teammate.

Norris ultimately opted for another flier and snatched the fastest lap with seven minutes left as he posted 1m 27.489 to top the session from Piastri by 0.024s.

Qualifying

Q1 

Ocon was first to exit the pit lane and soon set 1m 29.924 as the initial benchmark which everyone else beat on their opening flying laps, as Piastri produced 1m 28.019 to go fastest from Norris by 0.007s.

Norris however rebounded with 1m 27.805 on his second flier whilst the bottom five compromised of; Stroll, Bearman, Sainz, Bortoleto and Ocon once everyone set a lap time, although Bearman and Sainz soon got out of the elimination zone on their second fliers.

Hamilton briefly flirted with the drop but managed to get himself out of danger with five minutes left as Doohan, Lawson and Gasly found themselves in danger.

Bortoleto ultimately qualified last and will line up behind Ocon on the back row with his Sauber teammate, Hulkenberg starting 18th behind Doohan and Stroll who will start 17th and 16th respectively.

Verstappen meanwhile topped the opening segment with 1m 27.778 ahead of Norris after he set the fastest lap in the closing moments.

Q2

Albon and Bearman were first out on track and the Williams driver set 1m 28.581 as the benchmark time but once everyone bar Lawson posted a lap time, Norris found himself top on 1m 27.481 from Verstappen by 0.048s which proved quickest overall in the segment.

Albon, Bearman, Hadjar, Alonso and Lawson meanwhile found themselves in the elimination zone, but Albon opted to go early for his second run which saw him elevate himself to sixth with a lap time of 1m 28.106 as the rest of the grid began to exit the pit lane.

At the checkered flag, none of the initial bottom five survived as Albon qualified 11th but Lawson improved to 12th ahead of Alonso and Hadjar, as Bearman found himself 15th after he failed to improve on his final Q2 lap.

Q3

Piastri was first to hit the track and set a benchmark time of 1m 27.560 but the red flags were soon out with eight minutes and 32 seconds left after Norris got wide on the kerb at Turn 5 and went spinning into the barriers to end his session early and meant that he would start 10th on the grid.

The session resumed after a nine-minute delay with Sainz and Gasly first to exit the pit lane along with Verstappen, whilst everyone else opted to stay in their garages.

Verstappen benefitted from the quiet track as he posted 1m 27.559 on his first flier to go onto provisional pole by 0.001s from Piastri ahead of the final runs.

Once the checkered flag fell, Russell beat the lap record with 1m 24.407 to go onto provisional pole but Piastri responded with 1m 27.304 to take back provisional pole.

Verstappen however proved too difficult to beat as he snatched a second pole on the streets of Jeddah with 1m 27.294 to lower his lap record, as Piastri fell 0.010s shy ahead of Russell, whilst Leclerc, Antonelli, Sainz, Hamilton, Tsunoda and Gasly completed the top nine.

Speaking post-Qualifying, Verstappen admitted that he didn’t expect to be in the fight for his “unexpected” pole after “some final adjustments”, as he explained that balance and tyre temperature were key to the result especially after a change of Q3 strategy.

“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.”

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