Max Verstappen seems to be finding the pace again in qualifying after he secured another pole position at Jeddah ahead of the Saudi Grand Prix. Despite Red Bull’s struggles come race day thus far this season Verstappen appears to be making progress with his Red Bull. The pole position finish also came at a time where McLaren driver Lando Norris failed to set a time in Q3 after crashing on his out lap. Norris was eliminated from the session due to the incident.
Piastri led the session as the checkered flag flew but Verstappen was still on a flying lap. Despite less than stellar sector 2 and sector 3 times, Verstappen set the fastest sector 1 time of the session which was enough to carry him to the top of the table ahead of Piastri by 0.01s. In third George Russell trailed behind. “It’s really satisfying to be first here in Qualifying, said Verstappen it is of course the best position for tomorrow, even though I think tomorrow in the race it will be tough to keep them behind but we’re going to give it a good go.”
Mercedes was the only constructor to put both cars in the top 5 with Kimi Antonelli finishing P5. Carlos Sainz finished in P6; his best qualifying finish since joining Williams Racing. Sainz will look to convert his favorable starting position into points. Sainz has only scored one point in 2025 as opposed to his teammate Alex Albon scoring 18 thus far this season.
Qualifying Results from Jeddah
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|
| 1 | 1 | Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:27.778 | 1:27.529 | 1:27.294 | 19 |
| 2 | 81 | Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 1:27.901 | 1:27.545 | 1:27.304 | 18 |
| 3 | 63 | Russell | Mercedes | 1:28.282 | 1:27.599 | 1:27.407 | 16 |
| 4 | 16 | Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:28.552 | 1:27.866 | 1:27.670 | 19 |
| 5 | 12 | Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:28.128 | 1:27.798 | 1:27.866 | 17 |
| 6 | 55 | Sainz | Williams Mercedes | 1:28.354 | 1:28.024 | 1:28.164 | 23 |
| 7 | 44 | Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:28.372 | 1:28.102 | 1:28.201 | 20 |
| 8 | 22 | Tsunoda | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:28.226 | 1:27.990 | 1:28.204 | 16 |
| 9 | 10 | Gasly | Alpine Renault | 1:28.421 | 1:28.025 | 1:28.367 | 22 |
| 10 | 4 | Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 1:27.805 | 1:27.481 | DNF | 11 |
| 11 | 23 | Albon | Williams Mercedes | 1:28.279 | 1:28.109 | | 14 |
| 12 | 30 | Lawson | Racing Bulls Honda RBPT | 1:28.561 | 1:28.191 | | 11 |
| 13 | 14 | Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:28.548 | 1:28.303 | | 14 |
| 14 | 6 | Hadjar | Racing Bulls Honda RBPT | 1:28.571 | 1:28.418 | | 12 |
| 15 | 87 | Bearman | Haas Ferrari | 1:28.536 | 1:28.648 | | 15 |
| 16 | 18 | Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:28.645 | | | 9 |
| 17 | 7 | Doohan | Alpine Renault | 1:28.739 | | | 9 |
| 18 | 27 | Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:28.782 | | | 8 |
| 19 | 31 | Ocon | Haas Ferrari | 1:29.092 | | | 9 |
| 20 | 5 | Bortoleto | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:29.462 | | | 8 |