MELBOURNE: Double world champion Max Verstappen claimed pole on Saturday for the Australian Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, but his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez had a torrid time and will start last.
In overcast and cool conditions, Lewis Hamilton in the other Mercedes was third ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in a tight session that went to the wire.
Last year’s winner Charles Leclerc came seventh in the Ferrari, with his teammate Carlos Sainz fifth.
It was a huge performance from Mercedes, whose W14 has struggled for speed but is clearly improving as they bettered Ferrari.
Lance Stroll in the other Aston Martin will start sixth ahead of Leclerc with Williams’ Alexander Albon a shock eighth.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was ninth with Nico Hulkenberg in a Haas rounding out the top 10.
It was a second pole of the year for Dutchman Verstappen, and the 22nd of his career, after the season-opening race in Bahrain, which he went on to win.
He started from 15th in Saudi Arabia a fortnight ago after mechanical problems, but sliced through the field to come second behind Perez.
The 25-year-old knocked out his rivals with a flying lap at the death of one minute 16.732, 0.236 secs ahead of Britain’s Russell.
“I think the last run was very good, the whole weekend has been tough to get the tires in the right window,” said Verstappen, who has never won in Australia and will start on pole for the first time at Albert Park.
“Very happy to be on pole, already looking forward to tomorrow. I think we have a good race car but it is tricky on the tires, so going to be an interesting race for sure.”
But Mexico’s Perez — one point behind Verstappen in the championship standings — had a horror of a day, struggling with grip and balance.
He left the track four times during the third practice and it didn’t get any better in qualifying when he locked up and careened into the gravel at Turn 3 on his first lap.
His car beached and had to be removed by a crane, with the session red flagged.
“It was the same issue again,” the dejected Perez said on the team radio.
Russell, who came fourth in Saudi Arabia, was stunned with Mercedes’ performance, saying “we weren’t expecting that, that’s for sure.”
“What a session for us. The car felt alive, and to be honest I’m disappointed I didn’t get pole as the car felt awesome,” he added.
“We are learning more and more about the car, it’s still not where we want it to be, but it’s evolved from Bahrain to Jeddah to here.”
Seven-time world champion Hamilton, who has been the pole-sitter eight times in Melbourne, was briefly at the top of the timesheets and was ecstatic to be starting on the second row.
“I’m so happy with this. This is totally unexpected — just really proud of the team,” said the Briton.
“It’s a dream for us, to be this close to the Red Bull is incredible. We hope to give them a run for their money.
“Everything came together today. We’ll give it our best shot tomorrow.”
Verstappen topped Q2 from Alonso and Sainz with Alpine’s Gasly a casualty.
AlphaTauri pair Nyck De Vries and Yuki Tsunoda also missed out, along with Kevin Magnussen in his Haas and McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Verstappen was also fastest in Q1 ahead of Russell and Hamilton.
Along with Perez, Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas, Williams’ Logan Sargeant and rookie McLaren driver Oscar Piastri all failed to get out of Q1.
Verstappen on pole in Australia as Mercedes bounce back
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Verstappen on pole in Australia as Mercedes bounce back
- Lewis Hamilton in the other Mercedes was third ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso
- Last year’s winner Charles Leclerc came seventh in the Ferrari
Piastri wins Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from Verstappen to take F1 lead
JEDDAH: Oscar Piastri won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday to seize the lead in the Formula One world championship from McLaren teammate Lando Norris with his third win in five races.
Red Bull’s four-times champion Max Verstappen was runner-up, 2.843 seconds behind the Australian, after starting from pole at Jeddah’s Corniche circuit but collecting a five-second penalty for a first corner clash with Piastri.
Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari’s first podium of the campaign and Norris clawed his way from 10th on the grid to fourth.
Victory made Piastri, triumphant in Bahrain last weekend and China last month, the first Australian to lead the championship since his manager Mark Webber in 2010 and also the first back-to-back winner this season.
He now leads Norris, whose race was heavily compromised by a crash in qualifying, by 10 points after starting the night three behind.
Piastri has 99 points to Norris’s 89 and Verstappen’s 87. Champions McLaren stretched their lead over Mercedes in the constructors’ standings to 77 points.
“It was a pretty tough race. I’m very, very happy to have won. Made the difference at the start. Made my case into Turn One, and that was enough,” said the happy winner.
“Definitely one of the toughest races I’ve had in my career,” he added after 50 laps in 30 degree temperatures around a super-fast track.
George Russell was fifth for Mercedes with Italian teammate Kimi Antonelli sixth and seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton seventh for Ferrari.
Williams had Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon eighth and ninth with Racing Bulls’ French rookie Isack Hadjar the final points scorer in 10th.
FIRST CORNER
There was immediate controversy at the start as Verstappen and Piastri went side-by-side into the first corner, with the Red Bull emerging ahead after cutting across the runoff.
“He needs to give that back, I was ahead,” Piastri told McLaren over the team radio. “He was never going to make that corner regardless of whether he was there or not.”
Verstappen gave his version in similar fashion to Red Bull: “He just forced me off, there was no intention of him to make that corner.”
Stewards decided the champion was at fault and handed him the penalty, with Verstappen reacting by saying sarcastically “Oh, that is lovely’.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner did not let it lie after the chequered flag either, complimenting Verstappen and adding: “That first corner we’ve all got our opinions on.”
The safety car continued a sequence of appearing at all five races in Saudi Arabia so far with an appearance at the end of the opening lap after Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly collided and crashed.
Both drivers retired, Tsunoda after getting his car back to the pits.
Verschoor storms to F2 victory as Weug claims historic win in F1 Academy in Jeddah
- The victory moves Verschoor into the lead of the F2 Drivers’ Championship
- With her victory, Weug also snatched a narrow lead at the top of the F1 Academy standings
JEDDAH: Richard Verschoor produced a masterclass in tire management and racecraft to win the Formula 2 feature race in Jeddah, fighting back from ninth on the grid to claim victory for MP Motorsport.
The Dutch driver rebounded impressively after heartbreak in Saturday’s Sprint Race, where he crossed the line first but was demoted to second by a five-second penalty for an earlier incident.
Determined to make amends, Verschoor ran the alternative strategy, starting on medium tires and extending his first stint deep into the race.
Despite his aging rubber, Verschoor consistently set fastest laps, showing blistering pace while others pitted early for fresher tires.
His strategy paid off, and after switching to supersofts, he rejoined the track just a few seconds behind leader Jak Crawford with four laps to go.
Once his tires were up to temperature, Verschoor rapidly hunted down the DAMS Lucas Oil driver, closing within DRS range and executing a clinical move into Turn 1 on the final lap to secure a stunning win.
The victory moves Verschoor into the lead of the Drivers’ Championship, with Josep Maria Marti — who finished fifth in the Feature Race — second overall and Leonardo Fornaroli third.
Earlier in the day, Maya Weug made history by becoming the first Ferrari driver to win an F1 Academy race in Jeddah, prevailing in a dramatic and incident-packed Race 2.
Starting from pole for the first time in the series, Chloe Chambers looked to have the race under control after a clean getaway, keeping ahead of a fierce scrap for second between Weug and Mercedes’ Doriane Pin. Amid soaring track temperatures, Weug showed relentless pace, reeling Chambers in and battling wheel-to-wheel for the lead by Lap 3.
Weug briefly seized the lead before being forced wide by Chambers, who was later handed a five-second penalty for the incident. That opened the door for an intense battle between Weug and Pin, with the two repeatedly exchanging P2 as Chambers tried to maintain her advantage.
Despite crossing the finish line first, Chambers’ time penalty demoted her to second, handing victory to Weug. Pin completed the podium for Mercedes.
The race saw further drama as Rafaela Ferreira was hit with a 10-second penalty for spinning Emma Felbermayr of Kick Sauber, dropping both out of the points contention.
Behind the front three, Alisha Palmowski secured fourth place, with Alba Larsen fifth and Aston Martin’s Tina Hausmann sixth. Alpine’s Nina Gademan finished seventh, while Ella Lloyd was promoted to eighth after Ferreira’s penalty. Joanne Ciconte and Chloe Chong rounded out the points-scoring positions.
With her victory, Weug also snatched a narrow lead at the top of the F1 Academy standings, setting up an intriguing battle for the rest of the season.
Max Verstappen on pole in Jeddah as Lando Norris crashes in qualifying
- Dutchman seizes pole from Piastri
- Championship leader Norris crashes, qualifies 10th
JEDDAH: World champion Max Verstappen put Red Bull on pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in track-record time on Saturday as McLaren’s Formula One leader Lando Norris hit the wall and qualified 10th.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, bidding to become the first Australian to lead the standings since Mark Webber in 2010, joined the four-times world champion on the front row for Sunday’s night race.
Mercedes’s George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will share the second row in third and fourth at the super-fast Corniche circuit where the winner has come from pole three out of four times previously.
“The car came alive in the night,” exclaimed Verstappen after pipping Piastri by a mere 0.010 of a second.
The pole position changed hands three times in a final flurry of flying laps before the champion settled matters with a time of one minute 27.294 seconds.
“I think in the race it will be difficult to keep them behind. But we will give it a good go,” said Verstappen, winner last year.
Italian 18-year-old rookie Kimi Antonelli qualified fifth for Mercedes, with Carlos Sainz sixth for Williams and Lewis Hamilton only seventh for Ferrari.
Verstappen’s team mate Yuki Tsunoda will start eighth with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly ninth.
Norris was fastest in final practice and the second phase of qualifying, after Verstappen had led the first, but brought out red flags with eight-and-a-half minutes remaining when he hit the wall.
The Briton, who leads Piastri by three points after four races, signalled over the team radio that he was unhurt while calling himself an idiot with an exasperated expletive thrown in.
Piastri was the only one with a time on the board at that point, his 1:27.560 effort slower than Norris’s best of 1:27.481 in Q2.
Verstappen then went top when the track action resumed but Russell and Piastri went faster again before the Red Bull driver’s last effort.
Hamilton just squeezed through to the final top-10 shootout, the 40-year-old just 0.007 quicker than 11th-placed Alex Albon in the Williams.
Liam Lawson qualified 12th and ahead of his Racing Bulls rookie team mate Isack Hadjar in 14th.
Oliver Bearman, who made a sensational F1 debut with Ferrari as a stand-in at last year’s Saudi race, will line up 15th for Haas.
Aston Martin, marking their 100th Formula One race as a marque, had another difficult session with double world champion Fernando Alonso 13th and Lance Stroll 16th.
Lloyd narrowly holds off Weug to take thrilling maiden victory in Jeddah
- British driver manages race calmly, pulling clear to build advantage
JEDDAH: McLaren’s Ella Lloyd thrived under intense pressure from the more experienced Maya Weug to secure her first F1 Academy win on Saturday, taking victory in race one around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Starting from the front row, the British driver got the better of her Rodin Motorsport teammate Emma Felbermayr at turn one to storm into the lead.
From there, she managed the race calmly, pulling clear as battles raged behind her and building a solid advantage over her rivals.
Felbermayr slipped back, losing P2 to Red Bull Racing’s Alisha Palmowski before Weug worked her way into the top three.
Meanwhile, series leader Doriane Pin found herself locked in a fierce battle for P6 with Tina Hausmann.
But just as the fight was heating up, disaster struck for Williams driver Lia Block — starting from the back of the grid after a qualifying crash — who was tagged from behind by Courtney Crone.
The incident brought out the safety car and forced Chloe Chong into retirement after she sustained damage while trying to avoid the collision.
Lloyd handled the restart well, but as race one approached its conclusion, Weug — having passed Palmowski for P2 — began closing the gap rapidly.
The pair engaged in a thrilling drag race on the final lap, but Lloyd held firm, crossing the line just 0.176 seconds ahead of the Ferrari driver.
Palmowski similarly fended off Pin to secure the final podium spot, with Alba Larsen taking P5 ahead of Aston Martin’s Tina Hausmann. Chloe Chambers, who was to start race two from pole, finished seventh, leaving Nina Gademan to claim the final point in race one.
Saudi artist on track as work displayed at Jeddah Corniche Circuit
- Race Through Art competition launched in cooperation with Ministry of Sport
- ‘This message reflects our culture to the whole world,’ says winner Yara Al-Harthi
JEDDAH: Yara Al-Harthi, the winner of the Race Through Art competition, has captured the spirit of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in a powerful piece of artwork at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Al-Harthi’s artwork was displayed at the circuit ahead of the arrival of the pinnacle of motorsport in Jeddah.
The Race Through Art competition was launched in cooperation with the Ministry of Sport, which invited amateur and professional artists to participate in designing artistic works that reflected the unique culture of the Kingdom. The winning artwork was displayed in the run-off area at the circuit ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian GP, which takes place on Sunday.
The aim of the competition was to provide a platform for creative Saudi talent to showcase their work. It was open to all Saudi nationals over the age of 18, living anywhere in the world, who wanted the opportunity to present their vision of the historic sporting occasion.
Al-Harthi said: “This design is not just an artwork: It is a message, and this message reflects our culture to the whole world, especially in the fifth edition (of the grand prix).
“I used bold colors at the circuit to reflect the spirit of enthusiasm and to increase the energy of fans, and also to make them notice the integration of culture … and the main landmarks in Saudi Arabia with the race.
“I am very happy and proud that I won the competition.”
