Verstappen takes Pole in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Norris crashes
Verstappen has been battling with low confidence in a struggling vehicle that has so far been outpaced by McLaren,
Reigning Formula One world champion Max Verstappen worked past his own set of problems to register the fastest qualifying time during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit Saturday night.
Verstappen has been battling with low confidence in a struggling vehicle that has so far been outpaced by McLaren, but he showed his nouse to navigate through to Pole 0.010 seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri.
"Simply lovely," said the four-time world champion after his qualification run.
"The car came alive at night," he said on his radio.
Oscar Piastri missed out on his third pole of the season but will start on the front row alongside Verstappen.
George Russell is there again, putting his Mercedes in the top three.
Charles Leclerc is fourth and the other Silver Arrows of Kimi Antonelli is fifth.
Lewis Hamilton ended his run in seventh place, while Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda, who crashed during practice on Friday, finished eighth.
The official race will take place Sunday night from 8 pm Kenyan time as the fifth race of the season goes live.
Saudi Arabia Grand Prix Final Qualifying Standings
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 1:27.294
2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3. George Russell (Mercedes)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
6. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
7. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
8. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
10. Lando Norris (McLaren)
11. Alex Albon (Williams)
12. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
13. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
14. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
15. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
16. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
17. Jack Doohan (Alpine)
18. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
19. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
20. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)