Outstanding sport by Max Verstappen in Jeddah as he nailed a flying 1:27:294 to break the track record and take pole position for Sunday. Oscar Piastri came in a close second and will be getting ready to ace the race start tomorrow to attempt a quick overtake. The ever-consistent George Russell completes the top three and will start right behind the Aussie on raceday.
The remaining fastest five were Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli, while the last slots from the top 10 find are filled by Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton, Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, and an unfortunate Lando Norris.
MAX VERSTAPPEN IS ON POLE!! 💨💨
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 19, 2025
What an incredible lap from the Red Bull driver! 👏#F1 #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/NbaPkd2vCb
Q3
A red flag brought the session to a halt at 8:32 with Lando Norris as the protagonist of a big crash after spinning in Turn 1. It will be a tough recovery drive for the Britton if he does not want to be left out of contention for the Driver’s championship.
An incredible finale for the Jeddah Qualifying as Max Verstappen broke the track record and took pole from Oscar Piastri, who had also just broken the track record and trails behind for a mere 0.010s.
The ever-impressive rookie Kimi Antonelli keeps on shining as he took fifth position ahead of the more experienced Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton. Yuki Tsunoda keeps the consistency as he reaches Q3 for the second time in a row since his promotion but it’s still far from the 0.3s target proposed by Helmut Marko.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Leader |
| 1. | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:27:294m |
| 2. | 81 | Oscar Piastri | Mclaren | +0.010s |
| 3. | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.113s |
| 4. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.376s |
| 5. | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +0.572s |
| 6. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +0.870s |
| 7. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.907s |
| 8. | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | +0.910s |
| 9. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +1.073s |
| 10. | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | No Time |
Q2
The elimination zone claims the two Racing Bulls, as both rookies Isaack Hadjar and Liam Lawson couldn’t beat Lewis Hamilton’s advancing time. Fernando Alonso, having used the last new Soft set in Q1, had to run on used Softs and couldn’t push to Q3 in his team’s main sponsor (Aramco) local track.
Young Oliver Bearman made a great effort, but the Haas just doesn’t have the straight line speed for the 2nd fastest track on the calendar.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 11. | 23 | Alex Albon | Williams | +0.007s |
| 12. | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +0.089s |
| 13. | 14 | Fernando Alsonso | Aston Martin | +0.201s |
| 14. | 6 | Isaack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | +0.316s |
| 15. | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | +0.546s |
Q1
An uneventful Q1 with all drivers keeping it neat and tidy. Save for Grabriel Bortoleto, who scrapped his chances of making it to Q2 as he spun on turn 1 on his last flying lap, simultaneously denying Max Verstappen the possibility of a better lap as he was following him close behind.
The night was tough for Kick Sauber as Nico Hulkenberg, while errorless, couldn’t find any pace, and both drivers are out. Aston Martin, Alpine, and Haas all lose a man each, a story that seems to be repeating itself for the teams this season.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 16. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +0.000s |
| 17. | 7 | Jack Doohan | Alpine | +0.000s |
| 18. | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber | +0.000s |
| 19. | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | +0.000s |
| 20. | 5 | Gabriel Bortoletto | Kick Sauber | +0.000s |
Lights out is at 20:00 local time, 13:00 ET for the Jeddah GP tomorrow, April 10, on ESPN+.
