After a tricky weekend at Bahrain and some crisis talk regarding his future with Red Bull, Max Verstappen drove a brilliant Q3 lap to take pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as Lando Norris made a mistake and crashed out.
After the Red Bull hierarchy held urgent meetings following a poor showing last time out in the Bahrain Grand Prix and with speculation in Jeddah turning towards whether Verstappen’s future could walk away from the Milton Keynes outfit, the reigning world champion did his talking on the track.
The four-time champion sealed his forty-second career pole position in Formula 1 with an awesome lap time of one minute 27.294 seconds, beating Oscar Piastri’s McLaren by a tiny margin of 0.010 seconds.
George Russell will start third after another good showing for Mercedes, while Charles Leclerc starts alongside him on row two in the lead Ferrari.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Carlos Sainz share row three, the latter clearly now settling into life at Williams with his best qualifying performance of the season.
Lewis Hamilton had said just making the top ten would be progress for him as he struggled for pace in his Ferrari, but he ultimately managed seventh position, with Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly also getting ahead of Norris after his crash.
Having spoken about having confidence issues on the eve on qualifying, Norris had been competing at the head of the field but was caught out around the tight Jeddah Corniche Circuit, hitting the wall at turn five during his opening Q3 run, labelling himself a “fucking idiot” over team radio.
It means, having started sixth in Bahrain last weekend, the championship leader is P10 on the grid on Sunday.
Alex Albon had looked strong throughout practice but narrowly missed out on the top ten shootout and is P11 on the grid, alongside Liam Lawson for Racing Bulls.
Fernando Alonso is P13 with Isack Hadjar and Oliver Bearman having also made it into Q2 before being eliminated.
Gasly survived pulling out of his garage with a tyre blanket still attached to the right front to get out of Q1, although his Alpine teammate Jack Doohan did not manage to escape the drop zone and will start P17, behind Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin.
Sauber struggled with Nico Hulkenberg down in P18 and Gabriel Bortoleto last after spinning on his final attempt as the second Haas of Esteban Ocon splits the pair.
So an exciting end to Q3 with Oscar Piastri and George Russell fighting for the the top spot and yet it was inevitable that Max Verstappen took pole. So congratulations to the Red Bull driver in achieving P1.
As for Lando Norris, that mistake was costly and with Jeddah being a tricky track to overtake, it will be interesting how the McLaren driver can recover.
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:27.294
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:27.304
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:27.407
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.670
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:27.866
6 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:28.164
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:28.201
8 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:28.204
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:28.367
10 Lando Norris McLaren No time
11 Alex Albon Williams 1:28.109
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:28.191
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:28.303
14 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:28.418
15 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:28.648
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:28.645
17 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:28.739
18 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:28.782
19 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:29.092
20 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:29.462
Max Verstappen has stormed to an incredible pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix amid a dramatic end to Qualifying that saw the Dutchman beat Oscar Piastri by just one-hundredth of a second, while Lando Norris suffered a hefty crash early in Q3.
With the McLarens entering the session as the favourites after strong outings in the weekend’s practice sessions, all eyes were on whether Piastri or Norris might clinch P1 as the final segment of Qualifying got underway.
But just as Piastri crossed the line to put the first time on the board, Norris had a moment over the kerbs that sent the Briton into the wall at the exit of Turn 5, bringing the Briton’s session to a premature end and triggering a red flag.
When the action resumed a thrilling battle for pole ensued, with George Russell initially grabbing P1 before being displaced by Piastri – only for Verstappen to surge through on a lap of 1m 27.294s, the Red Bull driver beating Piastri by just 0.010s.
This pushed Russell down to third in the Mercedes, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in fourth and the other Silver Arrows machine of Kimi Antonelli in fifth. Carlos Sainz, meanwhile was a solid sixth, marking his best Qualifying performance for Williams so far.
Lewis Hamilton slotted into P7 as he continues to adjust to the Ferrari, with Yuki Tsunoda claiming P8 behind him for Red Bull. Pierre Gasly continued a decent run for Alpine in P9, while Norris remained in P10 without a time on the board after his early exit from Q3.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/verstappen-clinches-stunning-pole-position-in-saudi-arabia-as-norris-crashes.3iOIueeuGavZp0RotlO9Ze
Formula 1 championship leader Lando Norris crashed out of qualifying at the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver was on his first push lap during Q3 at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, but hit the wall and brought his qualifying session to an end.
Norris mounted the kerb while navigating the fast section between Turns 4-5-6. The bump unsettled the McLaren and Norris hit the wall, damaging his front wing and the suspension on the left-hand side of the car.
Norris came to a stop on track after hitting the wall and the session was red-flagged with eight and half minutes to go on the clock. At the time of the red flag, only Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri had set a time in the third session in qualifying.
The McLaren driver’s crash means that he now won’t qualify higher than 10th for the grand prix tomorrow, with his championship rivals Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set to start the race higher up the grid.
Norris was, understandably, upset with the crash and was quoted on team radio saying “fucking idiot” after his race engineer Will Joseph checked in on him following the crash.
The crash in Q3 was the first incident in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, despite the yellow flags coming out in Q1 when Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto spun off track. Several other drivers had close calls with the wall on the exit of the 27-corner circuit’s final turn.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lando-norris-crashes-out-of-saudi-arabian-gp-qualifying/10715061/
Lando Norris is standing by his own harsh analysis after he crashed out of qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and called himself a “fucking idiot” for doing so.
Having looked on the pace all weekend despite admitting to lacking confidence heading to the fifth round of the season, Norris’ hopes of hanging on to his championship lead took as big a dent as his McLaren did at Turn 5 of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
He ruled himself out of the running for pole – eventually taken by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – having pushed too hard on his first run in Q3, telling his team over the radio that he was okay before labelling himself a “fucking idiot”.
Asked by Motorsport.com if he stuck by his own evaluation of the incident, Norris replied: “I don’t know, what did I say?”
Once he was told, he was bullish about the crash, adding: “Makes sense. Well, yeah, I mean, I agree with it.
“I should be fighting for pole and especially on a [first fast] lap, I shouldn’t be taking any silly risks like I seem to have done. I need to go and review it all, like I said. You know, not a guarantee we would have been on pole, because Max looks like he did a good job.
“I mean, Red Bull were quick the whole of qualifying, it wasn’t a surprise. So, it would have been nice just to be in that fight. I was doing well until then and feeling comfortable.
“But I mean, it makes sense, I shunted, you know. Again, I’m not going to be proud, I’m not going to be happy. I’ve let myself down, I’ve let the team down and the guys have got a big job to do now to fix it all.
“So, yeah, it’s the way it is. I agree with what I said, but I still look forward to tomorrow and have to try and make up for today.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lando-norris-fucking-idiot-jeddah-shunt/10715129/
Max Verstappen provided the perfect response to claims that Red Bull is imploding – with a scintillating pole position at the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner delivered his verdict of the Dutchman’s sensational lap, when he was asked if it was the best reply to his team’s critics, Horner said: “Honestly, I did not believe that was possible going into that session.
“It just shows, you never give up. We’ve got a great team, you keep fighting. You keep chasing the performance and then Max, he’ll go and deliver you that last ounce of performance.”
Explaining how his team gambled on doing two timed laps following Lando Norris’ crash in Q3, Horner added: “Coming into that qualy off the back of P3, it was all about who was going to be third. And suddenly, Q1, Max went quickest, and you think, ‘hang on, are McLaren sandbagging here?’
“And then Q2, we were right there again. And then the unfortunate accident for Lando in Q3, there were only four cars with two new sets [of soft tyres], which were the two McLarens, George Russell and Max.
“Thankfully, Lando was ok, but it left it right on the cusp of doing two times, for which there was 25 seconds of margin, or do you just hang in there and do one?
“We elected to do the two times, which puts you under pressure because if there’s any issue at all, you’ve lost that margin. What was super impressive for me was that, because you [don’t] take the pit stop, you’ve got to carry the fuel.
“So, he had six or seven kilograms more fuel on that first lap, which he went quickest on, that put the pressure on the other guys.
“And then again, his last lap was outstanding. To get that pole, our second in the last three races, is really rewarding. A phenomenal performance by Max and the team, and good to have Yuki Tsunoda up there in Q3 as well.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/max-verstappen-shows-red-bull-never-gives-up-with-pole-at-saudi-arabian-gp/10715111/
Oscar Piastri feels that his final effort in Qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was “the best I could have done” after being beaten to pole position by Max Verstappen by a margin of just 0.010s.
A dramatic Q3 session saw Piastri become the sole McLaren to enter the fight for pole after Lando Norris suffered a heavy crash early on, bringing out the red flags as the Briton’s day came to an end.
While Piastri initially looked to have displaced George Russell in the battle for P1 when the session resumed, Verstappen surged through to snatch the position, pushing the Australian down to P2.
When asked about the fact that he had missed out on pole position, Piastri responded: “To be honest, I was pretty happy with it. There wasn’t too much more left in that lap, so [I’m] quite happy with the job I did.
“I think it was playing catch-up a little bit through the first part of Qualifying and then that last lap felt more or less like the best I could have done. I think Max has done a good job, I think it’s another high-speed circuit for them where they seem to be having a little bit more success but he’s done a good job again obviously.
“Still a lot to fight for tomorrow. I think our pace is good, it’s going to be a tough race and the tyres are a bit softer than last year, so we’ll see if it plays to our advantage.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/piastri-admits-jeddah-qualifying-lap-was-the-best-i-could-have-done-as-he.4kTXI3Gy9bk0Hn7Wgteh08