Max Verstappen will start on pole position for the FORMULA 1 STC SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX after a thrilling qualifying session at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Saturday.
The Dutchman set a time 0.319s quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Third on the grid will be his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez, one place ahead of the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.
Just outside the top ten — by 0.036s — was Englishman Oliver Bearman making a surprise debut for Ferrari. Bearman was suddenly drafted into FP3 as a replacement for Carlos Sainz who had been diagnosed with appendicitis in the morning. He becomes the 12th British driver to race a works Ferrari in the history of Formula 1 and the youngest-ever to compete for the Scuderia at just 18 years of age.
Starting last on the grid will be China’s Zhou Guanyu. After hitting the wall at Turn 7 to bring out the red flag in FP3, his Stake F1 Team mechanics worked miracles to repair his car for qualifying, but he didn’t cross the line in time to be able to record a lap.
To mark International Women’s Day, the first race of this year’s F1 Academy Series got underway in Jeddah on Friday with Doriane Pin leading from lights to flag, finishing fractionally ahead of Alpine’s Abbi Pulling. Local racer Reema Jufffali was unlucky to be involved in an incident early on — leading to a two-lap Safety Car to clear up debris — but the Saudi Arabian racer recovered to finish 11th.
Dutchman Richard Verschoor survived two Safety Car appearances to commandingly win the 20-lap FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race. Verschoor took the lead from Paul Aron (who started on reverse grid pole) at the beginning of lap eight and stayed in front to the end. Aron finished third after being passed by Dennis Hauger at half distance.
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