Verstappen beats Piastri by hundredths of a second in Saudi Arabia qualifying

Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after an intense qualifying session where he edged out Oscar Piastri by just one hundredth of a second, while Lando Norris suffered a heavy crash that left him tenth.

At the Jeddah circuit, the Dutch driver clocked a time of 1:27.294, earning the 42nd pole of his career, despite McLaren having shown stronger pace during earlier practice sessions.

The session took a turn when Norris, who had set the fastest time in Q2 and was the favorite for pole, lost control over the curbs at Turn 5, slamming into the barrier and causing a red flag at the beginning of Q3.

"I'm very happy," Verstappen said afterward. "I definitely didn't expect to be on pole here, especially after Practice 3 and considering how the whole weekend has gone. The car improved overnight, we made some final adjustments, and it became much easier to drive."

"I'm very happy. I definitely didn't expect to be on pole here, especially after Practice 3 and considering how the whole weekend has gone. The car improved overnight, we made some final adjustments, and it became much easier to drive."

Russell in third position

George Russell will start third in his Mercedes. Charles Leclerc qualified fourth for Ferrari, while Kimi Antonelli secured a valuable fifth place in the other Mercedes.

Carlos Sainz achieved his best qualifying of the season with Williams in sixth, ahead of Lewis Hamilton who continues adapting to Ferrari and will start seventh. Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly and Norris complete the top ten.

Alexander Albon missed out on Q3 by just seven thousandths of a second and will start eleventh for Williams, with Liam Lawson twelfth for Racing Bulls.

Fernando Alonso qualified thirteenth for Aston Martin, followed by Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) and Oliver Bearman (Haas), who failed to progress beyond Q2.

Sauber struggles in incident-filled session

The qualifying session featured several incidents, including at Alpine where Gasly left the pits with a tire warmer still attached to his right front tire - though this didn't prevent him from reaching Q3.

Meanwhile, Sauber endured a difficult session with Nico Hulkenberg 18th and Gabriel Bortoleto 20th after spinning on his final attempt. Lance Stroll (16th), Jack Doohan (17th) and Esteban Ocon (19th) completed the group eliminated in Q1.

The pole position battle culminated with Russell briefly taking top spot before Piastri went faster, only for Verstappen - still completing his lap - to snatch pole by the narrowest of margins.

"Tomorrow's race will be difficult to keep them behind, but we'll try," added Verstappen, acknowledging the challenge of holding off the fast McLarens during the Grand Prix.

2025 Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying Results