SAUDI ARABIA: Sergio Perez has secured the pole position for the second consecutive year at the Saudi Arabian GP in Jeddah. Max Verstappen suffered a mechanical issue that will see him start in 15th place.
Perez at the winning position
The qualifying session was entertaining and saw Charles Leclerc qualify second. However, due to a 10-place grid penalty, he will drop to 12th, allowing Fernando Alonso to take his spot on the front row alongside Perez in tomorrow’s Saudi Arabian GP.
George Russell and Carlos Sainz will start in the second row, followed by Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon. This year’s grid will feature cars from five teams filling the top six slots, making for an exciting race.
The session started with AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries spinning out at Turn 1 after missing out on FP3 due to a complete power unit change on his car. Lando Norris also had to abort his first flying lap after tagging the inside wall with his left-front tyre, which left him with a broken suspension.
Fernando Alonso suffered a spin as drivers explored the tight limits of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Logan Sargeant was the last to spin out, facing the wrong direction on the exit of the Turn 22/23 chicane.
Norris had to exit the session early due to the damage his car sustained. Meanwhile, the race director deleted Sargeant’s first lap time for breaching track limits, and his second attempt was also unsuccessful due to damage to his car.
Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon, and de Vries finished in the bottom five, getting knocked out in Q1.
Verstappen experienced a “big moment” with a snap of oversteer at Turn 14 during his first Q2 run before slowing with a transmission issue that ended his session early. Despite Verstappen’s early exit, Perez managed to secure pole position by a tenth and a half of a second ahead of Leclerc.
With Leclerc taking a 10-place grid penalty, Fernando Alonso will start on the front row with Sergio Perez.
George Russell put on a brilliant performance to finish 4th but will start 3rd alongside Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Fans will eagerly anticipate the race, which promises to be a thrilling event with a wide range of cars at the front of the grid.
With Verstappen starting in 15th place, it will be interesting to see if he can make his way through the pack to challenge for a podium finish.
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