F1 – Saudi Arabian GP – Qualifying

Ahlan, MiniFans! We’re barely four races into the season, but the championship is fully alive and starting to decide who the contenders will be towards the end of the season. So far, McLaren’s youngsters are the best bets, but Verstappen’s performances have proven that he hasn’t thrown the towel in and is still fully in a battle mostly painted in orange. Jeddah is the this weekend’s canvas, which we might leave behind with a new championship leader.

With a very narrow track comes the extra work for teams of when to let their drivers out. Q1, with all 20 cars on track, is a very tricky session, but it started off slow and smooth. Most of the fastest of the weekend waited the first stint out in their boxes for the midfield and the back of the grid to score their fastest laps and return, leaving space on track. Times weren’t especially fast at the beginning, save for the McLarens and Verstappen, who were pretty much within a tenth of a second of each other, with just a handful of thousandths separating the teammates. Tsunoda, proving that the times shown in the free practices weren’t a one time wonder, settled in fifth, decently close to his teammate in third.

Unlike Red Bull, Ferrari seemed to be struggling a bit to keep up the pace, specially Hamilton, who was having a bit of a hard tume matching his teammate’s times. The last few minutes were very important for him, as the difference between a spot in the top ten and one in the elimination zone was of a handful of tenths. With everyone one track bar Norris, track position and driver smartness were key to find the perfect spot to have one last try. The best exaple of this was Alonso, who took masterful advantage of Doohan’s slipstream to secure a spot in Q2 by shaving off a tenth from his final time. The eliminated drivers in Q1 were Stroll (P16), Doohan (P17), Hulkenberg (P18), Ocon (P19) and Bortoleto (P20).

Q2 started off with the peculiar sight of Stroll still in his car, waiting just in case his team found a track limits infraction they could show the FIA, but it was short lived. Once the timer kicked off, everyone left their garage at the same time, creating a train in the pitlane as the drivers opened up big enough gaps not to be disturbed by dirty air. The midfielders were the first ones scoring times, but they’d soon be pushed down by the top dogs claiming their rightful place. Once again, it was McLaren governing with an iron hand, yet they still had a leech in the shape of Verstappen splitting them.

The second half of Q2 was more nailbiting, with Hamilton being left on the verge of falling until he climbed up to eigth as he was the first to cross the checkered flag in a scramble that shook him back down to tenth with barely seven thousandths to spare. The order turned back to a commonly seen one this year, with the top teams fully in Q3 and two single drivers abandoning their teammates to make it through in Sainz and Gasly. The eliminated drivers in Q2 were Albon (P11), Lawson (P12), Alonso (P13), Hadjar (P14) and Bearman (P15).

Q3 mimicked Q2, with a slow and steady trickle of cars looking for their spot before they all started to launch their timed laps. Purple microsectors and sectors shared among McLaren and Mercedes (all before Verstappen even finished his out lap) ended on Piastri smashing the clock right before a red flag was waved. The culprit was Norris, who had lost control of his car right before the kerb of turn four, which launched him into the wall, therefore ending his run and leaving him, at most, in tenth. Once the car and debris were taken care off, the session was resumed for the last eight and a half minutes.

Norris’ crash meant that only one driver had a set time on the tower, Piastri, while everyone else would have to risk it all on one lap. The first one out was Verstappen, reusing the tyre from the first stint that hadn’t seen a timed lap, and a purple first sector vaticinated the lap that would push Piastri to second by one mere thousandth. Once he got back into the pitlane, the feat was proven to be even greater than thought earlier, as he only changed tyres and went back out, in a race pit stop style, showing that his lap had been done with extra fuel. Russell inserted himself into the narrative, temporarily getting first place, but no one had said their last word yet. Piastri regained the control of the timing tower, but it was only a matter of time until Verstappen beat him again, once againt reigning in Jeddah.

The weekend looked like McLaren would once again steal the first row away, but Verstappen was not about to let them do so, but neither was Russell. All throughout the sessions he toyed with the top positions, but Q3 was when he fully awoke, obliterating all and any competition with every lap he set, leaving Piasti and Russell to be disappointed in second and third. Red Bull might not have the dominance they once had, but Verstappen keeps proving again and again that, in his case, the hands are still there when the driver has a spot to shine, such as in street circuits where getting as close to the walls is just as important as,or even more than, having the best car.

MiniDrivers – F1
2025 Saudi Arabian GP
Qualifying