Max Verstappen turned around a slow start to his weekend at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit by beating Oscar Piastri to pole position for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, as championships leader Lando Norris crashed in Q3 and will start 10th. 

In the first runs of Q1, it was Piastri who set the pace as he posted a lap of 1:28.019, seven thousandths of a second ahead of McLaren team-mate Norris. Verstappen slotted into third, 0.129s off top spot and ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda. Norris then went for another attempt and his 1:27.805 lifted him two tenths of a second above his team-mate. 

Piastri improved on his final run, but only by a tenth of a second and he failed to climb back to P1. With Norris staying put in the McLaren garage that left the door open, and Verstappen strode through, posting a final time of 1:27.778 to take top spot ahead of the McLaren pair. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli took fourth at the end of the session ahead of Tsunoda, Williams’ Alex Albon and Mercedes’ George Russell. 

There was no place in the second session, though, for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who exited in P16, behind Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar who progressed seven hundredths of a second ahead of the Canadian. Also ruled out at the end of Q1 were Alpine’s Jack Doohan, Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg, Haas’ Esteban Ocon and second Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto. 

 In Q2, Piastri again set the initial pace at 1:27.690 but almost as soon as the Australian crossed the line, Verstappen bounced him out of P1 with a lap of 1:27.529. Norris, though, found enough to go top once more, five hundredths of a second ahead of the Dutchman. Norris stayed in the pit lane for the final runs but this time, with used tyres on board, Verstappen couldn’t haul his way past the McLaren, and he went through to the top 10 shootout in P2 and with two new sets of Softs to play with. 

Eliminated at the end of Q2 were Albon in P11, followed by Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, the second Racing Bulls car of Isack Hadjar and Haas’ Ollie Bearman. 

At the start of the final top 10 shootout, Piastri took provisional pole with a lap of 1:27.560. No one else was able to get across the line, however, as Norris took too much kerb in Turn 4 and slid into the barriers on exit. The McLaren driver was unhurt, but the red flags came out. 

While Norris’ crash had wrecked the flying laps of some drivers, Verstappen wasn’t one of them. The Dutchman had been on an out lap when Norris crashed and when the session resumed the Red Bull driver was quickly out on track on scrubbed tyres and a two-run fuel load, as he attempted to get two runs in. And with his first run he stole provisional pole from Piastri by the narrowest of margins – 0.001s.

In the final runs, Russell laid down the gauntlet with a lap of 1:27.407. Piastri followed and the Australian found 0.256s over his first run to bounce Russell out of top spot.

However, Verstappen now with less fuel on board and with his RB21 “coming alive” as he later put it roared to his second pole of the season and the 42nd of his career. 

Behind Piastri and Russell, Leclerc took P4 for Ferrari ahead of Antonelli, while Carlos Sainz took sixth for Williams ahead of the second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton. Tsunoda qualified in P8, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the unfortunate Norris. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Qualifying 
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'27.294 - -
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'27.304 0.010 0.011
3 George Russell Mercedes 1'27.407 0.113 0.129
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'27.670 0.376 0.431
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1'27.866 0.572 0.655
6 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1'28.164 0.870 0.997
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1'28.201 0.907 1.039
8 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'28.204 0.910 1.042
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'28.367 1.073 1.229
10 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes - - -
11 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1'28.109 0.815 0.934
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1'28.191 0.897 1.028
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'28.303 1.009 1.156
14 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1'28.418 1.124 1.288
15 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1'28.648 1.354 1.551
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'28.645 1.351 1.548
17 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1'28.739 1.445 1.655
18 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1'28.782 1.488 1.705
19 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1'29.092 1.798 2.060
20 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1'29.462 2.168 2.484