Verstappen claims first Saudi Arabian GP pole position by 0.3s
8th March 2024Red Bulls world champion, Max Verstappen, has cruised his way to his first Saudi Arabian Grand Prix pole position beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by three-tenths.
After 34 career pole positions and an intense championship battle in 2021, Verstappen has secured his first-ever pole position at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP.
However, that is not the only first of the weekend. Ferrari’s Oliver Bearman also competed in his first-ever Formula 1 qualifying session after Carlos Sainz’s much-needed surgery for appendicitis ruled him out of the race weekend.
Verstappen stormed his way to the top of the timing boards in the pole shootout, beating Leclerc by three-tenths who is expected to line up alongside him on the front row in P2. Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez completed the top three in qualifying.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was best of the rest, down in fourth, ahead of the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, in fifth and sixth.
The two Mercedes drivers, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton occupied seventh and eighth to lead the remaining drivers in the top 10. Yuki Tsunoda (RB) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) finished ninth and 10th.
Bearman completed his first competitive F1 session down in 11th after being eliminated in Q2 ahead of Alexander Albon (Williams), Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Daniel Ricciardo (RB) in 12th, 13th and 14th respectively.
Haas’ lowest driver, Nico Hulkenberg completed qualifying in 15th after he suffered mechanical issues early on in Q2 which brought out a brief red-flag stop.
Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas led the remaining four drivers to set a lap time on the board, following is Q1 elimination in P16. He was quickly followed by the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, in 17th and 18th, while Williams’ Logan Sargeant completed the timed runners in P19.
Following his crash, in the third practice session Zhou Guanyu was not able to set a lap time on the board and finished 20th despite the team’s ability to get him out on track in the dying minutes.
That’s all for the article; Verstappen claims first Saudi Arabian GP pole position by 0.3s!
Read more Formula 1 here:
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- Audi to complete full takeover of Sauber in prep for 2026 F1 entry
- Bearman jumps in for Sainz at Saudi Arabian GP after requiring surgery
- 2024 Saudi Arabia GP: Alonso pips Russell and Verstappen in delayed FP2
- Saudi Arabia GP: Verstappen tops FP1 ahead of Alonso and Perez
- Alpine to change technical structure in bid for better results
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
