The Mexican Sergio Perez (Red Bull) will start from pole position on Sunday in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix of the Formula 1 after achieving the best time in the qualifying session held this Saturday in Jeddah, in which the Spanish Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) will start second due to a penalty to charles leclerc (Ferrari).
The reigning double world champion, max verstappenhad an engine problem in his Red Bull during the second round of qualifying (Q2), so in Sunday’s race he will start in 15th place.
Verstappen, who had dominated all three free practice sessions and Q1, suddenly lost power in Q2 and claimed over the radio, in a message in English, that he had “an engine problem”.
The Dutchman, who won the first race of the new season in Bahrain earlier this month, now looks badly diminished ahead of Sunday’s race at the Jeddah street circuit, one of the fastest tracks in Formula 1.
“I felt that the car was going incredible. It’s a shame that Max was left out,” Pérez said of his partner with a bittersweet feeling.
Alonso, who at 41 years old started the season with a third place in Bahrain, will accompany him on the front row, with the podium again as his main objective.
“It’s been a good weekend for us. The car has performed very well, we’ll see what we can do from here. I’m confident, the car is good and the race is our strong point,” said the world champion in 2005 and 2006.
Ferrari’s Monegasque charles leclercwho finished second in Q3, 155 thousandths behind Pérez, will start from 12th position due to a penalty of ten places on the starting grid after replacing an electrical component in Bahrain, where he had to abandon.
The second line will be occupied by the British George Russell (Mercedes) and Spanish Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), which limited the damage to the Scuderia.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) will start seventh, just ahead of Australian rookie Oscar Piastri (McLaren), who will start from a remarkable eighth place in his second Formula 1 race.
Source: Ambito
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