Perez will start ahead of Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and George Russell (Mercedes) after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying results: Perez on pole from Alonso
What happened in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Q1?
Perez set the early pace at 1m29.261s, as Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri) had a huge spin on his first attempt. Verstappen then unleashed a 1m28.761s to beat his team-mate to the top spot by half a second for P1.
McLaren’s Lando Norris hit the wall on the inside of the final corner, sending him into the pits with steering and suspension damage, while Alonso spun at Turn 2 before going third quickest and Logan Sargeant rotated his Williams at the high-speed Turn 22, amazingly without hitting the wall.
Falling at the first hurdle were Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), Alex Albon (Williams), de Vries, Norris and Sargeant.
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Perez
What happened in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Q2?
Alonso set the initial pace at 1m28.757s, three tenths ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
Verstappen bailed out of his first flying lap after getting crossed up, but then suffered a driveshaft failure on his second push lap that sent him limping to the pits and out of the session.
Perez lapped a tenth off Alonso to take P2, ahead of Leclerc. Perez ran again at the end and produced 1m28.635s to top the session by 0.122s.
Knocked out at this point were Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and, shockingly, Verstappen.
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Q2 results: Perez fastest from Alonso
What happened in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Q3?
On the first runs, Alonso set the benchmark at 1m28.925s before Leclerc lapped in 1m28.757s, pipping him by 0.168s. Russell briefly took P2 for Mercedes, 0.115s off Leclerc, before Perez slammed in a 1m28.265s to take provisional pole by almost half a second.
On the final runs, Alonso jumped back to P2, but Leclerc responded to grab the position back, 0.155s off Perez – which means a P12 start thanks to his 10-place grid penalty.
Alonso will start second on the grid, ahead of Russell, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Oscar Piastri (Mclaren) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine).
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Q3 results: Perez takes pole
Source: Boxing News 24
