{"id":7229,"date":"2023-03-22T05:45:45","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T05:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/saudi-arabian-grand-prix-qualifying-sergio-perez-on-pole-as-max-verstappen-15th-after-issue\/"},"modified":"2023-03-22T05:45:46","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T05:45:46","slug":"saudi-arabian-grand-prix-qualifying-sergio-perez-on-pole-as-max-verstappen-15th-after-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/saudi-arabian-grand-prix-qualifying-sergio-perez-on-pole-as-max-verstappen-15th-after-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying: Sergio Perez on pole as Max Verstappen 15th after issue"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is live on BBC Radio 5 Live and the BBC Sport website<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez took pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after team-mate Max Verstappen suffered a power problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso will line up second on the grid because Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who qualified second, has a 10-place grid penalty for engine usage.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Verstappen’s driveshaft failed in the second session and he will start 15th.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mercedes’ George Russell will start third, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alonso’s team-mate Lance Stroll was sixth fastest, ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and the second Alpine of Pierre Gasly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lando Norris made a driving error in the first session, hitting the inside wall at the final corner, and will start down in 19th. He apologised to his team for what he called a “silly mistake”.<\/span><\/p>\n

British-born Thai Alex Albon was 17th in the Williams.<\/span><\/p>\n

How Perez claimed pole<\/h3>\n

Perez set his pole time on his first lap in final qualifying, on which he was just under 0.5secs quicker than Leclerc. <\/span><\/p>\n

He made a mistake on his second run, locking up into Turn One. The others drew closer on their laps, but the Red Bull had more than enough pace to hold them off.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It was tricky, the Q3, not getting the second lap,” Perez said. “Just nailing that lap, you really feel the F1 cars coming alive in this place.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Leclerc had mixed feelings about his second fastest time, knowing that he will drop to 12th on the grid.<\/span><\/p>\n

His penalty is the result of two separate failures of his car’s electronics control units in Bahrain two weeks ago. That meant Ferrari needed to fit a new one in Saudi Arabia, and only two are permitted for the entire season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leclerc said: “Happy? Yes and no. On the one hand, it has been a very difficult weekend in terms of pace for us. I am very happy about my lap – I put everything in it and it was really on the limit. On the other hand, Red Bull are on another planet.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Alonso, who finished third in the first race of the season following a huge step forward in performance from his team over the winter, said: “It has been a very good weekend for us. Qualifying was a weak point in Bahrain but today the car seemed to perform very well on one lap. Let’s see what we can do from here.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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