Max Verstappen pipped Oscar Piastri to pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, beating out the McLaren driver by just one-hundredth of a second. His team-mate Lando Norris crashed out at the start of Q3 following a mistake in sector one.McLaren were expecting an intra-team fight for pole position heading into qualifying after dominating the free practice sessions, but Verstappen announced his presence in the battle with his second Q1 run.
The reigning world champion topped the timing screens ahead of Norris and Piastri. Further down the order, Lewis Hamilton found himself in trouble. The legendary Brit needed a stronger final run to climb clear of the bottom five. The 40-year-old struggled throughout Friday and Saturday’s running at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
The fight between Verstappen and the two McLaren drivers continued into Q2. The Red Bull driver laid down a marker with a sizzling first effort, although this was bested by Norris, who went half-a-tenth faster. Piastri was two-tenths behind his team-mate after a minor mistake.
Hamilton’s struggles were present as well. Both he and Yuki Tsunoda were left sweating on their final runs after a strong effort from Liam Lawson dipped them into the danger zone, but both drivers managed to squeeze into the final part of qualifying.
After Piastri laid down the first marker, the red flag was brought out after his team-mate, Norris, clattered into the wall in the first sector. Russell entered the fight for the final runs, but nobody could get the better of the reigning world champion, who scored his second pole position of the season.
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