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Formula 1 Saudi Arabian GP
F1 qualifying results: Sergio Perez takes Saudi Arabian GP pole
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez took pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, as team-mate Max Verstappen suffered a technical failure in Q2 that means he starts 15th.
Charles Bradley
Edited: Mar 24, 2023, 6:30 PM
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Perez will start ahead of Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and George Russell (Mercedes) after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.
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Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying results: Perez on pole from Alonso
Cla Driver Time Gap km/h 1 Sergio Perez
1'28.265 251.814 2 Fernando Alonso
1'28.730 0.465 250.494 3 George Russell
1'28.857 0.592 250.136 4 Carlos Sainz
1'28.931 0.666 249.928 5 Lance Stroll
1'28.945 0.680 249.889 6 Esteban Ocon
1'29.078 0.813 249.516 7 Lewis Hamilton
1'29.223 0.958 249.110 8 Oscar Piastri
1'29.243 0.978 249.054 9 Pierre Gasly
1'29.357 1.092 248.737 10 Nico Hulkenberg
1'29.451 1.186 248.475 11 Zhou Guanyu
1'29.461 1.196 248.447 12 Charles Leclerc
1'28.420 0.155 251.372 13 Kevin Magnussen
1'29.517 1.252 248.292 14 Valtteri Bottas
1'29.668 1.403 247.874 15 Max Verstappen
1'49.953 21.688 202.144 16 Yuki Tsunoda
1'29.939 1.674 247.127 17 Alex Albon
1'29.994 1.729 246.976 18 Nyck de Vries
1'30.244 1.979 246.292 19 Lando Norris
1'30.447 2.182 245.739 20 Logan Sargeant
2'08.510 40.245 172.954 View full results
What happened in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Q1?
Perez set the early pace at 1m29.261s, as Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri) had a huge spin on his first attempt. Verstappen then unleashed a 1m28.761s to beat his team-mate to the top spot by half a second for P1.
McLaren’s Lando Norris hit the wall on the inside of the final corner, sending him into the pits with steering and suspension damage, while Alonso spun at Turn 2 before going third quickest and Logan Sargeant rotated his Williams at the high-speed Turn 22, amazingly without hitting the wall.
Falling at the first hurdle were Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), Alex Albon (Williams), de Vries, Norris and Sargeant.
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Perez
Cla Driver Time Gap Interval km/h 1 Max Verstappen
1'28.761 250.407 2 Sergio Perez
1'29.244 0.483 0.483 249.052 3 Fernando Alonso
1'29.298 0.537 0.054 248.901 4 Lance Stroll
1'29.335 0.574 0.037 248.798 5 Charles Leclerc
1'29.376 0.615 0.041 248.684 6 Carlos Sainz
1'29.411 0.650 0.035 248.586 7 Nico Hulkenberg
1'29.547 0.786 0.136 248.209 8 George Russell
1'29.592 0.831 0.045 248.084 9 Zhou Guanyu
1'29.654 0.893 0.062 247.913 10 Lewis Hamilton
1'29.689 0.928 0.035 247.816 11 Oscar Piastri
1'29.706 0.945 0.017 247.769 12 Esteban Ocon
1'29.707 0.946 0.001 247.766 13 Kevin Magnussen
1'29.744 0.983 0.037 247.664 14 Pierre Gasly
1'29.890 1.129 0.146 247.262 15 Valtteri Bottas
1'29.929 1.168 0.039 247.154 16 Yuki Tsunoda
1'29.939 1.178 0.010 247.127 17 Alex Albon
1'29.994 1.233 0.055 246.976 18 Nyck de Vries
1'30.244 1.483 0.250 246.292 19 Lando Norris
1'30.447 1.686 0.203 245.739 20 Logan Sargeant
2'08.510 39.749 38.063 172.954 View full results
What happened in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Q2?
Alonso set the initial pace at 1m28.757s, three tenths ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
Verstappen bailed out of his first flying lap after getting crossed up, but then suffered a driveshaft failure on his second push lap that sent him limping to the pits and out of the session.
Perez lapped a tenth off Alonso to take P2, ahead of Leclerc. Perez ran again at the end and produced 1m28.635s to top the session by 0.122s.
Knocked out at this point were Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and, shockingly, Verstappen.
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Q2 results: Perez fastest from Alonso
Cla Driver Time Gap Interval km/h 1 Sergio Perez
1'28.635 250.763 2 Fernando Alonso
1'28.757 0.122 0.122 250.418 3 Charles Leclerc
1'28.903 0.268 0.146 250.007 4 Carlos Sainz
1'28.957 0.322 0.054 249.855 5 Lance Stroll
1'28.962 0.327 0.005 249.841 6 George Russell
1'29.132 0.497 0.170 249.364 7 Esteban Ocon
1'29.255 0.620 0.123 249.021 8 Lewis Hamilton
1'29.374 0.739 0.119 248.689 9 Oscar Piastri
1'29.378 0.743 0.004 248.678 10 Pierre Gasly
1'29.411 0.776 0.033 248.586 11 Nico Hulkenberg
1'29.451 0.816 0.040 248.475 12 Zhou Guanyu
1'29.461 0.826 0.010 248.447 13 Kevin Magnussen
1'29.517 0.882 0.056 248.292 14 Valtteri Bottas
1'29.668 1.033 0.151 247.874 15 Max Verstappen
1'49.953 21.318 20.285 202.144 View full results
What happened in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Q3?
On the first runs, Alonso set the benchmark at 1m28.925s before Leclerc lapped in 1m28.757s, pipping him by 0.168s. Russell briefly took P2 for Mercedes, 0.115s off Leclerc, before Perez slammed in a 1m28.265s to take provisional pole by almost half a second.
On the final runs, Alonso jumped back to P2, but Leclerc responded to grab the position back, 0.155s off Perez – which means a P12 start thanks to his 10-place grid penalty.
Alonso will start second on the grid, ahead of Russell, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Oscar Piastri (Mclaren) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine).
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Q3 results: Perez takes pole
Cla Driver Time Gap Interval km/h 1 Sergio Perez
1'28.265 251.814 2 Charles Leclerc
1'28.420 0.155 0.155 251.372 3 Fernando Alonso
1'28.730 0.465 0.310 250.494 4 George Russell
1'28.857 0.592 0.127 250.136 5 Carlos Sainz
1'28.931 0.666 0.074 249.928 6 Lance Stroll
1'28.945 0.680 0.014 249.889 7 Esteban Ocon
1'29.078 0.813 0.133 249.516 8 Lewis Hamilton
1'29.223 0.958 0.145 249.110 9 Oscar Piastri
1'29.243 0.978 0.020 249.054 10 Pierre Gasly
1'29.357 1.092 0.114 248.737 View full results
Read Also:
- F1 drivers think Jeddah safety changes made little difference
- Wolff hints at bigger Mercedes F1 role for D’Ambrosio
- Mercedes explains reason for Hamilton's split with F1 trainer Cullen
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