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Max takes pole position in Saudi with a new lap record The Team made the most of a clever strategy that saw the Champion get in two runs in a tight finish to Qualifying in Jeddah after McLaren’s Lando Norris crashed out.

NorrislostcontrolofhisMcLarenonhisfirstrunandtheresultantredflagsscupperedthefirstrunsforanumberofdrivers.Max,though,hadbeenonhisoutlapwhentheflagscameout,andwhenthesessionresumed,hewasfuelledfortwoquickfirerunsthatsawhimfirststealprovisionaltopspotandthenconvertitintohissecondpoleoftheseasonwithaspectacularlapthatbeatMcLaren’sOscarPiastribyonehundredthofasecond.

I definitely didn't expect to be on pole here after FP3 as well and looking at how the whole weekend was, but, yeah, the car came alive in the nightMax Verstappen

“We made some final changes, and it was a lot more enjoyable to drive. The grip was coming to me. And around here, you know, a qualifying lap is extremely difficult because of all the walls. You need to try and nail it. And, yeah, it's really satisfying. To be first here in Qualifying is, of course, the best position for tomorrow, and even though I think tomorrow in the race it will be tough to keep them behind, we're going to give it a good go!”

Further back, a solid session for Yuki resulted in ninth place on the grid as the Japanese driver made it to Q3 for the second weekend in a row.

Yuki Straps In© Getty Images

FP3

Max put in a strong final flying lap to rise from sixth to fourth in the final moments of the final hour of practice, while Yuki recovered from his late FP2 crash to take ninth place in a solid FP3 for the Team. 

While McLaren appeared to have a pace advantage over the rest of the field, Max and Yuki chipped away throughout the session, with Max initially taking top spot before slipping back. A second run on soft tyres pushed him up to third. Yuki, meanwhile, thanked his mechanics for rebuilding his RB21 following his FP2 impact and then translated an opening P17 into P5 as he worked his way back up to speed.

The Saudi Night© Getty Images

In the qualifying sims, Max slotted into sixth, two and a half tenths ahead of Yuki. Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly then bumped the Japanese driver out to ninth ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.

Max was the last to improve, and the Dutchman found 0.079s to climb from sixth to fourth, two tenths off the third-placed Mercedes of George Russell and four hundredths ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Q1

In the first runs of Q1, it was Oscar Piastri who had set the pace with a lap of 1:28.019, seven thousandths of a second ahead of teammate Norris. Max got close, slotting into third, 0.129s off top spot, thanks to a lap of 1:28.148. Yuki’s first flyer of 1:28.424 initially put him fourth, but at the end of the first runs, Mercedes’ George Russell snuck ahead of the Red Bull driver by 0.142 to drop him to fifth. Lando then put in a couple of cool-down laps before a second attempt of 1:27.805 lifted him two tenths of a second above his teammate.

Too Quick To Capture© Getty Images

Oscar improved on his final run, but only by a tenth of a second, and he failed to climb back to P1. With Lando staying put in the McLaren garage that left the door open – and Max strode through, posting a final time of 1:27.778 to take top spot ahead of the McLaren pair. Kimi Antonelli took fourth at the end of the session and Yuki eased through to Q2 with a final flyer of 1:28.225 that allowed him to hold on to fifth ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon and Russell.

There was no place in the second session, though, for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who exited in P16, behind VCARB’s Isack Hadjar, who progressed seven hundredths of a second ahead of the Canadian. Also ruled out at the end of Q1 were Alpine’s Jack Doohan, Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg, Haas’ Esteban Ocon and the second Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto.

Q2

Max kept the pressure on in the first runs of Q2 as Oscar set the initial pace at 1:27.690. Almost as soon as the Australian crossed the line, Max was lighting up the timesheet with a purple first sector before climbing to P1 with a lap of 1:27.529. Lando, though, had just enough to sneak ahead, just five hundredths of a second quicker than the Champion. Yuki’s first flyer, on used tyres, was also a good one, and his time of 1:28.165 placed him in sixth.

Alex Albon went out early for his second run and the Thai driver edged ahead of Yuki as he pulled out into the pit lane to begin his out lap on new softs. Yuki used the new rubber to power into the 1m27’s, taking P7 by just over one hundredth of a second behind Charles.

Under The Floodlights© Getty Images

Lando stayed in the pit lane for the final runs, but this time, with used tyres on board, Max couldn’t haul his way past the McLaren, and he went through to the top 10 shootout in P2 with two new sets of softs to play with in Q3.

Eliminated at the end of Q2 were Alex in P11, followed by VCARB’s Liam Lawson, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, the second VCARB car of Isack Hadjar, and Haas’ Ollie Bearman.

Q3

The final ten drivers were all quickly on track at the start of Q3, but the only one to complete a first flyer was Oscar, who took provisional pole with a lap of 1:27.560. No one else was able to get across the line, however, as Lando took too much kerb in Turn 4 and lost control. He was pitched into the wall on the outside of the corner exit and luckily was unhurt, but the red flags came out.

While Lando’ crash had scuppered the flying laps of some drivers, Max wasn’t one of them. The Dutchman had only worked through a chunk of his out lap when the McLaren driver crashed, and when the session resumed, Max was quickly out on track on his scrubbed tyres, as he attempted to get two runs in. And with his first run, he took provisional pole from Oscar by the narrowest of margins – 0.001s.

In the final runs, George laid down the gauntlet with a lap of 1:27.407 that vaulted the Mercedes driver to pole. Oscar followed and the Australian found 0.256s over his first run to bounce George out of top spot.

However, Max had been fuelled for two runs, and with a lighter load and a greater degree of risk, and with the RB21 “coming alive”, the Champion roared to an incredible second pole of the season and the 42nd of his career.

A Happy Garage© Getty Images

Behind Oscar and George, Charles took P4 for Ferrari ahead of Kimi, while Carlos took sixth for Williams ahead of the second Ferrari of Lewis. Yuki’s sole run of the session netted a time of 1:28.204, and he’ll line up in P8, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Lando.

A Team Effort© Getty Images