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Max Verstappen Continues Red Bull Domination With Saudi Arabia Grand Prix Pole Position

By Robert Haile

Max Verstappen has continued Red Bull’s dominance with his second pole position of the season but all eyes are on Ferrari rookie Oliver Bearman.

While Verstappen took pole ahead of Charles Leclerc scarlet Ferrari by three tenths it was the other Ferrari that had people talking.

Eighteen year old Formula 2 driver Oliver Bearman was drafted in as a late replacement as Carlos Sainz was taken ill.

Looking at home he just missed out on a top ten place by three hundredths of a second.

At the front the World Champion put in two laps that were quick enough to seal the deal as Leclerc looks to provide the competition.

Pole sitter Verstappen said: “I enjoyed the day a lot. The car was really nice to drive and it was a good improvement from yesterday.

“We improved the car a little bit overnight and came out with a great set up which allowed me to attack the high speed corners and improve the one lap performance.

“Around this track, it really depends on your confidence level and how much you can go to your limit and today I felt very comfortable with the car.

“The whole of qualifying has been going very well, especially Q2 and my first lap in Q3. I am proud of today and am looking forward to the race tomorrow.

“As a Team we are happy with our car and the race pace and we really found our stride today. It has been a great job from the whole Team.”

Pole position qualifier Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing (C), Second placed qualifier Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Ferrari (L) and Third placed qualifier Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing (R) pose for a photo in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia – Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

On the second row Sergio Perez showed an improved performance taking third for Red Bull as Fernando Alonso went fourth for Aston Martin.

The McLaren duo again couldn’t be separated as Oscar Piastri piped Lando Norris to fifth as the Mercedes pair were seventh and eighth with George Russell leading Lewis Hamilton.

After his last race drama Yuki Tsunoda put his RB in ninth with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in tenth.

Bearman took eleventh with Alex Albon’s Williams twelfth ahead of Kevin Magnussen’s Haas and Daniel Ricciardo’s RB.

A power issue left Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas struggling and fifteenth while Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas stars sixteenth and a repaired Zhou Guanyu ended twentieth.

Alpine’ duo continued to struggle with Esteban Ocon in seventeenth with Pierre Gasly in eighteenth while Logan Sargeant completed the back row in nineteenth for Williams.

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix starts at 5 pm GMT (17:00) on Saturday, March 9.

Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying

  1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
  2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
  3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
  4. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
  5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
  6. Lando Norris (McLaren)
  7. George Russell (Mercedes)
  8. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
  9. Yuki Tsunoda (RB)
  10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
  11. Oliver Bearman (Ferrari)
  12. Alex Albon (Williams)
  13. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
  14. Daniel Ricciardo (RB)
  15. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
  16. Vallteri Bottas (Kick Sauber)
  17. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
  18. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
  19. Logan Sargeant (Williams)
  20. Zhou Guanyu (Kick Sauber)