That concludes our live text commentary of qualifying at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix!
Thanks for joining us and we will be back from 5pm UK time tomorrow to build up to Sunday's grand prix, with lights out at 6pm.
Until then, keep it on Crash.net for all the best reaction to today's thrilling qualifying.
"Very happy. I definitely didn't expect to be on pole here after FP3.
"The car came alive in the night. We made some changes and the car came to me.
"It's really satisfied. To be first in qualifying is the best position to be here."
| 2025 F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Qualifying Results | ||||||
| Pos | Driver | Nat. | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | NED | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1m27.778s | 1m27.529s | 1m27.294s |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | AUS | McLaren F1 Team | 1m27.901s | 1m27.545s | 1m27.304s |
| 3 | George Russell | GBR | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1m28.282s | 1m27.599s | 1m27.407s |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari HP | 1m28.552s | 1m27.866s | 1m27.670s |
| 5 | Kimi Antonelli | ITA | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1m28.128s | 1m27.798s | 1m27.866s |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Atlassian Williams Racing | 1m28.354s | 1m28.024s | 1m28.164s |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Scuderia Ferrari HP | 1m28.372s | 1m28.102s | 1m28.201s |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda | JPN | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1m28.226s | 1m27.990s | 1m28.204s |
| 9 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1m28.421s | 1m28.025s | 1m28.367s |
| 10 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren F1 Team | 1m27.805s | 1m27.481s | No Time Set |
| 11 | Alex Albon | THA | Atlassian Williams Racing | 1m28.279s | 1m28.109s | |
| 12 | Liam Lawson | NZL | Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team | 1m28.561s | 1m28.191s | |
| 13 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team | 1m28.548s | 1m28.303s | |
| 14 | Isack Hadjar | FRA | Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team | 1m28.571s | 1m28.418s | |
| 15 | Oliver Bearman | GBR | MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | 1m28.536s | 1m28.646s | |
| 16 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team | 1m28.645s | ||
| 17 | Jack Doohan | AUS | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1m28.739s | ||
| 18 | Nico Hulkenberg | GER | Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber | 1m28.782s | ||
| 19 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | 1m29.092s | ||
| 20 | Gabriel Bortoleto | BRA | Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber | 1m29.465s | ||
What a qualifying session that was! Here's how the rest of the top 10 looks...
Verstappen has done it! What a stunning lap from the Red Bull driver.
The four-time world champion claims pole, beating Piastri by just 0.010s. Wow!
Piastri now pips Russell by 0.103s to move onto P1!
But Verstappen is going faster behind...
Russell, with a stunning lap, including a brilliant first sector, goes fastest by 0.152s!
Verstappen, going earlier than his rivals, takes provisional pole after beating Piastri's initial benchmark by just 0.001s!
Game on in the battle for pole. Can Piastri - or anyone else - find an answer to that?
Norris's wrecked McLaren has been cleared and we have got going once more for the final 8 minutes of Q3.
One McLaren is out of the running for pole - can Piastri take it for the second weekend on the trot?
Norris is fine and out of his car but that was a big hit, destroying the front left of his McLaren.
Norris lost control of his MCL39 at high-speed and flew over the kerb before slamming into the barriers.
With no time on the board, that leaves the world championship leader only 10th on the grid for Sunday's grand prix.
"******* idiot," Norris laments over team radio.
Norris has crashed on his first lap of Q3!
The final part of qualifying begins. Who will claim pole? It's time to find out...
Hamilton will be breathing a sigh of relief after reaching Q3 with the 10th-fastest time.
The seven-time world champion snuck through by just 0.007s in the end.
11) Albon
12) Lawson
13) Alonso
14) Hadjar
15) Bearman
Albon runs earlier than the rest and improves to go sixth. Will that be enough to make it through to Q3?
The Williams driver now faces an anxious wait before his rivals take to the track for their final laps of Q2.
The drivers currently heading out of qualifying and in need of a faster lap are Albon, Bearman, Hadjar, Alonso and Lawson.
Norris shoots to the top with a time that pips Verstappen's Red Bull by just 0.048s.
Piastri is third in the other McLaren, ahead of Russell's Mercedes and Leclerc's Ferrari.
Tsunoda, Hamilton, Sainz, Antonelli and Gasly are the other drivers in the top-10 after the first runs.
Only the top three used a new set of soft tyres for those laps.
We are underway in Q1, with Albon and Bearman the first drivers to head out on track.
While most of the focus was on the drop zone, Verstappen produced a great late lap to go quickest at the end of Q1.
The Red Bull driver pipped the McLarens of Norris and Piastri by just 0.027s.
That's it for the first part of qualifying. Q2 will be coming up in a few minutes time.
After briefly sitting on the bubble of a Q1 exit, Hamilton made it safely through in P9 thanks to a late improvement.
16) Stroll
17) Doohan
18) Hulkenberg
19) Ocon
20) Bortoleto
Final laps beginning now and it's time to see who will be eliminated from qualifying...
Hamilton does improve to haul himself out of the drop zone and up to 10th. The times are incredibly close, though, so there's no guarantee that lap will be quick enough to safely progress...
After the opening runs of Q1, it's Lawson, Gasly, Hamilton, Ocon and Bortoleto in the bottom five.
However, times are rapidly improving as drivers continue to circulate as the track ramps up.
Norris is the early Q1 pacesetter, leading the way by half a second from Leclerc.
Albon is third as Hamilton slots into P4, 0.8s off the pace.
