World champion Max Verstappen has rushed to the pole position of the large price of Saudi Arabia with an impressive round. The red bull star drove a best time in the floodlight of the high-speed route on the Red Sea in 1: 27.294 minutes and thus broke through the actual dominance of McLaren-by 0.010 seconds. “My god, boys, just wonderful,” he sparked his crew after the galaunda. “I definitely didn’t expect the poles here,” emphasized Verstappen. “The car has awakened overnight.” The World Cup leading Lando Norris incited the third qualifying section, team-mate Oscar Piatri had to give up as secondly. Actually, they had been the top favorites on the poles. A strong George Russell in the Mercedes completed the top three. Behind it was Ferraris Charles Leclerc fourth, Kimi Antonelli made it fifth in the second silver arrow. Williams driver Carlos Sainz knew how to convince as the sixth. The top ten rounded Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull), Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Norris, but he had said without time. a better one. “It was a Megar round that was unlikely,” said Marko later. This also became as much as Norris, because in the last qualifying section in a quick curve, broke too much over a curve and subsequently fell into the wall. For the Emmerich Nico Hülkenberg, the fight for the best starting positions was disappointing. In his clean he hit teammate Gabriel Bortoleto (20th), but did not get 18. “Annoying” he referred to his end at Sky. In the second free training on Friday, in which similar external conditions prevailed, he had convinced as ninth. In the last rounds of practice for qualifying in advance, it had only been enough for him. Already in Japan he had caught the McLaren and then cheered the victory. In the overall ranking, he is eight points behind leader Norris, five behind Piatri. For the Grand Prix, he is now in the best starting position to strike back in the fight for the tour.
Go to source