A pole position for Max Verstappen would have seemed shocking before this session – but that’s exactly what we saw in the streets of Jeddah.
Here is the full starting grid of the 2025 Saudi Grand Prix.
F1 starting grid: TKTK leads from the pole
During the first qualification session, Max Verstappen seized the best time in the table to put himself right in front of the McLaren duo at the bottom on the grid, Pierre Gasly underwent a tire heater stuck on his alpine and Alex Albon brushed the wall.
Lance Stroll, Jack Doohan, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon and Gabriel Bortoleto. The KO for the Aston Martin pilot made him the driver most frequently knocked out in the first trimester!
In Q2, the fight to go out on the track saw Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) and Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) released within the tight limits of Pit Exit while the full field rushed to establish a tour. Lawson day was made even more difficult when its quick turn was deleted for exceeding track limits.
Lewis Hamilton managed to progress in Q3 by a fraction of a second on the Williams of Alex Albon. The racing bulls of Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar, the Aston Martin by Fernando Alonso, and the Haas of Oliver Bearman.
Q3 started with the drama: just as Piastri put the first round – and therefore the fastest -, his teammate Norris released a red flag after beating the wall and completely losing control.
A heated battle for the post started between Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri and George Russell in the last two minutes of the session – only so that Verstappen stops a “beautiful” pole position of Piastri by one tenth.
F1 2025: Tête-à-tête battles
👉 F1 2025: Tête-à-tête qualification statistics between teammates
👉 F1 2025: Tête-à-tête racing statistics between teammates
Starting grid F1: 2025 Grand Prix Saudi (provisional)
- 1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1: 27.294
- 2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1: 27.304
- 3. George Russell (Mercedes) 1: 27,407
- 4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1: 27.670
- 5. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1: 27,866
- 6. Carlos Sainz (Williams) 1: 28.164
- 7. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1: 28.201
- 8. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) 1: 28.204
- 9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 1: 28,367
- 10. Lando Norris (McLaren) n / a – Crash
- 11. Alex Albon (Williams) 1: 28.109
- 12. Liam Lawson (Racing bulls) 1: 28.191
- 13. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 1: 28202
- 14. Isack Hadjar (Racing bulls) 1: 28.418
- 15. Oliver Bearman (Haas) 1: 27.648
- 16. Lance walk (Aston Martin) 1: 28.645
- 17. Jack Doohan (Alpine) 1: 28.739
- 18. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) 1: 28,782
- 19. Esteban ocon (Haas) 1: 29.092
- 20. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) 1: 29.462
Read then: Our daring predictions for the Saudi Grand Prix
