Five winners and five losers from F1 Saudi Arabian GP qualifying
Who impressed and who underwhelmed in F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying?
Qualifying under the lights at the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix did not disappoint with drama throughout and an incredibly tight battle for pole position decided by the finest of margins.
Here are our winners and losers from a pulsating qualifying in Jeddah…
Winner - Max Verstappen
Not one, but two stunning laps from Max Verstappen. Despite carrying more fuel on his first flyer of Q3, the Dutchman was somehow able to pip McLaren’s Oscar Piastri’s pre-red flag benchmark by just 0.001s.
Piastri would go on to reclaim top spot before Verstappen usurped him with a sublime final run as the four-time world champion once again made the difference to snatch an unlikely pole away from the qualifying favourites.
Loser - Lando Norris
This was a bruising night for Lando Norris as the F1 world championship leader suffered a major early blow to his title aspirations.
Norris crashed heavily when he lost control of his McLaren over a kerb at Turn 5 during his first flying lap of Q3 and slewed into the barrier, sustaining substantial damage which eliminated him on the spot.
The Briton berated himself as a “f****** idiot” for the accident which leaves him a lowly 10th on the grid and staring at the very likely scenario that he will lose his points advantage.
Winner - Charles Leclerc
Although Charles Leclerc continues to be left frustrated by Ferrari’s deficit to the leaders in F1 2025, he can take satisfaction from the fact he once again squeezed everything from his SF-25.
Leclerc dragged his Ferrari to fourth in qualifying in Jeddah, behind only Verstappen, Piastri and Mercedes’ George Russell. What concerned him though was the sizeable 0.376s gap to pole position.
Despite the tricky car at his disposal, Leclerc continues to underline his prowess over a single lap, and hold the edge over his new teammate.
Loser - Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton’s difficult patch shows little sign of stopping as he could only manage seventh in qualifying, having scraped through Q1 and Q2.
A whole second away from pole, Hamilton also lagged more than half a second - and three places - behind Leclerc as his qualifying woes continued in Jeddah. The seven-time world champion admitted he is struggling to “bond” with his Ferrari car and his set-up choices do not appear to helping.
Having felt like he had made progress in Bahrain, it’s back to the drawing board for Hamilton.
Winner - Carlos Sainz
Another impressive qualifying display from Carlos Sainz, who claimed an excellent sixth on the grid as the sole Q3 runner for Williams.
Sainz’s brilliant late Q3 effort pipped Hamilton to see him outpace his Ferrari replacement for the second consecutive weekend.
After being frustrated to miss out on points last time out in Bahrain, Sainz will be determined to convert his lofty grid position into a top-10 finish on Sunday.
Loser - Jack Doohan
After an encouraging showing in Bahrain, it ended up being a disappointing qualifying for Jack Doohan.
Doohan was dumped out in Q1 with a time only good enough for 17th, while his teammate continued to star in the other Alpine.
Winner - Pierre Gasly
The Alpine clearly has some pace in the hands of Pierre Gasly, who once again extracted the maximum out of his car to bag another top-10 starting spot.
Other than being beaten by Sainz’s Williams, Gasly was ‘best of the rest’ behind the leading pack and will even start ahead of Norris as he aims to make it back-to-back points finishes in the Middle East.
Loser - Esteban Ocon
Esteban Ocon underwhelmed as he ended up 19th for Haas and watched his rookie teammate progress to Q2 and take 15th while he failed to make the cut.
Winner - Liam Lawson
Liam Lawson claimed his best starting position of the season so far with 12th in his Racing Bulls car, having fallen a tenth shy of making Q3 for the first time.
Lawson also got the better of a teammate in qualifying for the first time in 10 races, ending the second-longest losing streak of any driver on a Saturday.
A timely statement performance from the Kiwi after his brutal start to 2025.
Loser - Sauber
A poor qualifying for Sauber as Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto slumped to 18th and 20th respectively.
Bortoleto was left apologising to his team for a big spin down at Turn 1 which ruined his hopes of achieving a better result.
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