The world champion prevailed again in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. A rival ends up close behind – and Nico Hülkenberg is very unlucky.
Pole position number 34 in Max Verstappen’s career: The three-time and reigning Formula 1 world champion set the fastest time in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Friday and will start in the race on Saturday (from 6 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online ) from the very front. As was the case at the start of the season in Bahrain, Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari came second on the circuit in Jeddah, ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
For Nico Hülkenberg, qualifying ended in the second section – the German had to park his Haas after a defect and will start from 15th place on Saturday.
Verstappen had already taken first place on the grid at the start in Bahrain a week ago, and this was followed by a very confident victory in the Grand Prix. The RB20 is currently the strongest car with the strongest driver, who also competed against weakened competition: Ferrari was missing its second regular driver, Carlos Sainz had to undergo an appendix operation at short notice. Replacement driver Oliver Bearman moved up and the Formula 2 driver took eleventh place without much warm-up time. On Saturday, the 18-year-old became the youngest Ferrari driver to ever compete in a Formula 1 Grand Prix.
However, Verstappen should have been considered the favorite in the race even against a competition with the best line-up. Already in the training sessions on Thursday he showed an impressive pace on the long runs, the racing simulations. In Jeddah, Verstappen is aiming for his ninth win in a row across all seasons, so he is once again on the hunt for a record: the record is ten wins in a row, which Verstappen set himself last year.