Max Verstappen took pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after championship leader Lando Norris crashed out of a thrilling qualifying hour in Jeddah.
Norris had only just begun his first flying lap of Q3 when he lost control of his car, which broke free from his grasp when he got on the power while riding the curb exiting Turn 4.
His McLaren slid at speed into the outside barrier, where the front-left corner took the brunt of the damage and halted the Briton’s lap, leaving him 10th on the grid without a time.
This is the moment that cost Lando Norris a chance at pole position tonight 😮🔽#F1 #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/QvzYSUYrha
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 19, 2025
The session was suspended to clear the smashed MCL39 with only Oscar Piastri having completed a time. Although the lap was uncompetitive, it was slower than his Q2 time. That left the door wide open to Verstappen to pinch provisional pole shortly after the resumption, the Dutchman uniquely opting to do two qualifying laps punctuated by a racing pit stop for fresh tires.
George Russell was next to rotate through top spot with his sole flying lap, but both Piastri and Verstappen had chances to reply.
Piastri duly moved to top spot with a 0.103s advantage, but Verstappen was last among the contenders to cross the line and go the final word.
He went purple in the first sector 0.123s quicker than Piastri, and though he subsequently failed to improve in either of the final splits, he’d done enough to just cling on, snatching pole position by just 0.01s.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “I definitely didn’t expect to be on pole here after FP3 as well and looking at how the whole weekend was.
“The car came alive in the night. We made some final changes and it was a lot more enjoyable to drive. The grip was coming to me.
“It’s really satisfying. To be first here in qualifying is of course the best position for tomorrow, even though tomorrow in the race it will be tough to keep them behind, but we’ll give it a go.”
Piastri conceded pole was just out of his reach, having felt he got the most out of his car.
“To be honest, I was pretty happy with it,” he said. “There wasn’t too much more left in that lap.
