Not even the colebrots in Red Bull that entertain the paddock distract Max Verstappen. The Dutchman continues on his way, not worrying about the tenths that the Ferraris and the Aston Martins have scratched him in a lap launched in Saudi Arabia. Thus, the three-time champion, once again in another galaxy, took the second pole of the course, and will have as his main threat Charles Leclerc in today’s race in Jidda (18 hours). Fernando Alonso starts fourth, after approaching 374 thousandths of the three-time champion.
It seemed that the visit to Jidda, an urban track with devilish speed, with averages of 250 km/h and peaks of 330, could be a good opportunity for Alonso to return to the lead. He blew away expectations with the first time in practice on Friday, and was back at times to be the first mortal after the Red Bulls. But this was the end of his adventure: there was no reunion with the pole 12 years later, nor did it disturb Max Verstappen.
“Happy with the weekend. We have been very fast in all practice and in the timed session, with Red Bull and with Ferrari, and we have beaten Mercedes and McLaren. It’s a very fast car in a lap, but not so much in long bursts. I am aware that we were the fifth team on the grid in Bahrain and in five days the story will not have changed so quickly; A difficult race awaits me”, admitted Alonso, who came to dream of the feat when he finished third in Q2, just 89 thousandths behind the Dutchman, dominant in the three qualifying heats.
In the first, beyond the Dutchman’s best time, the big surprise was the young British Oliver Bearman, Ferrari Academy driver who replaced Carlos Sainz in the SF-24. The Madrid native was out – and today also in the race – due to an emergency intervention for appendicitis, after feeling unwell on Thursday in the first training sessions. His replacement made a good impression: he finished 11th (missing out of the top 10 by just 36 thousandths) and overtook Leclerc in the first turn. He closed Q1 in 9th place.
In the second moto (Q2), Verstappen imposed his law of superiority, and Leclerc was only 79 thousandths closer. It was the maximum he allowed the Dutchman to get close to, who again pulled out the roller in the definitive Q3.
In the first attempt Verstappen went out to sentence with only one lap. He left his teammate Checo Pérez at 335 thousandths and the first of the rest, Alonso, at 516. The Asturian was once again the driver who came closest to the red buffaloes.
However, in the second attempt the situation changed slightly, to the detriment of Alonso, who was overtaken by Leclerc, who went from fourth to second. The Monegasque made a great lap and overtook the Asturian by 55 thousandths, while Pérez and Verstappen did not need to improve their laps to keep the Mexican third and the Dutch first. Only the presence of Leclerc in the second position of the grid can hinder another absolutist double for Red Bull.
