F1 qualifying results: Sergio Perez on pole for Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen suffers technical trouble
Sergio Perez clinched pole position for only the second time in his Formula 1 career as the Mexican driver stole the show in Saudi Arabia.
After Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen had to retire from qualifying due to a transmission issue in Q2, Perez took his chance and set a lap of 1’28.265 to seal the deal.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc came home in P2, although he will start tomorrow’s race in P12 after suffering a 10-place grid penalty ahead of this weekend’s race. As a result, veteran Fernando Alonso will start P2 for Aston Martin, while Mercedes’ George Russell will start P3.
Australian rookie Oscar Piastri impressed in just his second F1 qualifying session for McLaren and will start P8 on the grid for Sunday’s race.
MORE: F1 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Predictions, Odds, Betting Tips & Best Bets
Provisional grid for the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
| position | driver |
| 1 | Sergio Perez |
| 2 | Fernando Alonso |
| 3 | George Russell |
| 4 | Carlo Sainz |
| 5 | lance walk |
| 6 | Esteban Ocon |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton |
| 8th | Oskar Piastri |
| 9 | Pierre Gasli |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg |
| 11 | Zhou Guanyu |
| 12 | Charles Leclerc* |
| 13 | Kevin Magussen |
| 14 | Valtteri Bottas |
| 15 | Max Verstappen |
| 16 | Yuki Tsunoda |
| 17 | Alex Albon |
| 18 | Nyck de Vries |
| 19 | Lando Norris |
| 20 | Logan Sargeant |
*denotes a grid penalty.
F1 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Live Qualifying Commentary, Highlights: How it happened
END OF Q3: Sergio Perez takes pole position for the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix!! It’s a perfect performance from the Mexican around Jeddah.
5 minutes before Q3: Perez leads after the opening runs of Q3 with a time of 1:28.265. This is then the time to hit and it will take some hits! A great round from Red Bull’s Mexican Maestro.
START Q3: In Jeddah we will be back on the road for the last time, that’s when the real battle for pole position begins. It’s time for the last ten riders on track as Perez is currently set up for first place.
END OF Q2: The big news from the session is that back-to-back world champion Verstappen is out after suffering an engine failure on his car. Perez takes P1, Alonso follows closely behind. Double disappointment for Haas and Alfa Romeo.
Eliminated from Q2:
Nico Hulkenberg
Zhou Guanyu
Kevin Magussen
Valtteri Bottas
Max Verstappen
5 minutes before Q2: Verstappen is out of his car and out of qualifying!!! The problem with his car is considered too big to fix and the Dutchman is likely to start tomorrow’s race from P15.
8 minutes before Q2: Verstappen has a big problem with his engine. He’s stuck in the hallway, sounding concerned over the radio. This qualifying just got very interesting.
10 minutes before Q2: Alonso sits so high that Verstappen has a big moment on his flyer and has to cancel. Leclerc and Stroll are in P2 and P3 so far.
START Q2: We’re back on track here in Jeddah as Bottas is first out on track.
END OF Q1: After many drivers canceled laps for exceeding the track limit during this opening session, it is Verstappen who, as expected, leads away from Perez. On the other hand, it’s rather disappointing for Norris after he hit the wall in the middle of the session and was unable to continue due to damage.
Eliminated from Q1:
Yuki Tsunoda
Alex Albon
Nyck de Vries
Lando Norris
Logan Sargeant
5 minutes before Q1: There are a lot of spins out there as so far Alonso and De Vries have both lost control on the first corner while Norris hit the wall on the final corner.
Tsunoda, De Vries, Gasly, Sargeant and Norris currently occupy the bottom five spots.
10 minutes before Q1: With the first lap of the flying heats recorded, it’s Verstappen who leads so far with a 1’28.761 – half a second faster than anyone else on the track so far! With that, the Dutchman is already done in Q1.
Elsewhere, Sainz has set the slowest time yet, which could be a serious concern for Ferrari.
START OF Q1: Here we go, because the battle for pole position begins in Saudi Arabia. It’s the Williams couple Albon and Sargeant that takes us to the circuit!
5 more minutes: We are here in Jeddah ready to qualify for the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The action starts in just under five minutes!
Still 15 minutes: FP3 showed how tight the field was all the way down the grid, apart from the Red Bull cars up front. So expect some surprises in Jeddah in this upcoming qualifying session.
30 minutes left: Fernando Alonso continues to shine in his Aston Martin and could shake the lead again this session as he tries to snatch pole position.
McLaren are also the ones to watch further down the order, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both did well in FP3 today, finishing in the top eight. They need to recover after the disappointment in Bahrain at the season’s opening race.
45 minutes left: Sky Sports in the UK has just opened its live show with a quick focus on Mercedes and their troubles earlier this season.
Many thought this would be a turning point after suffering such a poor start but reacting well and finishing strong last season, but they haven’t had such luck in 2023 so far.
Team boss Toto Wolff remains a dissatisfied man as Aston Martin will look to let them go first, especially this weekend.
1 hour to go: So it very much seems like Verstappen is the rider to beat again this weekend after dominating this weekend’s three practice sessions, but who could stop him?
Well, teammate Sergio Perez seems like the most likely option given Red Bull’s mass dominance. The Mexican veteran will be desperate to beat him this weekend to make a real mark as he chases his first world title.
Speaking of training sessions, Esteban Ocon almost ran his car into the guard rail earlier, which shows how difficult this circuit can be.
1 hour 15 minutes left: A quick reminder before the action begins today that Charles Leclerc has already been penalized with a ten-place grid penalty for tomorrow’s Grand Prix.
That’s because his Ferrari team had to swap parts in his car after his DNF finish last time out in Bahrain. As a result he has to go as far as he can in qualifying today to try to make up for that penalty as much as possible.
1 hour 30 minutes left: Hello and welcome The sports news‘ Live coverage of qualifying for the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix!
Following his absolute dominance of the Bahrain International Circuit two weeks ago, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will be looking for further success here in Jeddah.
When does the Saudi Arabia F1 Grand Prix start?
- Date: Sunday, 03/19
- Start time: 5:00 p.m. GMT / 1:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 a.m. AEDT (March 6) / 8:00 p.m. local time
The start of the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday is scheduled for 8 p.m. local time. Lights Out takes place just after 1 p.m. ET.
Below is the full schedule for the weekend’s F1 events in Jeddah.
| Date | case | Time (GMT) | time (ET) | Time (AEDT) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, 03/17 | practice 1 | 1:30 p.m | 9:30 am | 00:30 (March 18) |
| Friday, 03/17 | practice 2 | 17 o’clock | 13 o’clock | 4 a.m. (March 18) |
| Saturday, 03/18 | exercise 3 | 1:30 p.m | 9:30 am | 00:30 (March 19) |
| Saturday, 03/18 | qualification | 17 o’clock | 13 o’clock | 4 a.m. (March 19) |
| Sunday, 03/19 | race | 17 o’clock | 13 o’clock | 4 a.m. (March 20) |
What TV channel is F1 on?
| United Kingdom | USA | Canada | Australia | |
| TV channel | SkySports F1 | ESPN/ABC | TSN (English); RDS (French) | Fox sports |
Where can I live stream F1?
| United Kingdom | USA | Canada | Australia | |
| Live broadcast | NOW TV / Sky Go app | ESPN+ | fuboTV, TSN Direct | kayo |
F1 season schedule 2023
In 2023, the Formula 1 calendar includes 23 races on four different continents.
The promotion began with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 5th and will end in Abu Dhabi on November 26th.
Here is the current schedule (subject to change):
| Date | race |
| 5. March | Bahrain Grand Prix |
| 19th March | Saudi Arabian Grand Prix |
| 2nd of April | Australian Grand Prix |
| April, 30th | Azerbaijan Grand Prix |
| May 7th | Miami Grand Prix |
| May 21st | Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna |
| 28th of May | Monaco Grand Prix |
| June 4th | Spanish Grand Prix |
| 18th of June | Canadian Grand Prix |
| 2nd July | Grand Prix of Austria |
| July 9th | British Grand Prix |
| July 23 | Hungarian Grand Prix |
| 30th July | Belgian Grand Prix |
| 27.8 | Dutch Grand Prix |
| September 3rd | Italian Grand Prix |
| 17th of September | Singapore Grand Prix |
| 09/24 | Japanese Grand Prix |
| 8th October | Qatar Grand Prix |
| October 22nd | United States Grand Prix |
| October 29th | Mexican Grand Prix |
| November 5th | Brazilian Grand Prix |
| 19.11 | Las Vegas Grand Prix |
| 11/26 | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |
How to watch Formula 1 in the USA
- TV channel: ABC; ESPN
- Live broadcast: FuboTV / Hulu / Sling TV
F1 fans in the US can catch all the action in 2023 when all 23 races will be broadcast live on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. For Spanish-speaking viewers, there is live coverage on ESPN Deportes, although ESPNews and ESPNU will also be showing some practice and qualifying sessions live throughout the year.
In addition to the official F1 TV service, the action can be streamed live with subscriptions to Hulu + Live TV. Elsewhere, Sling TV will show the action, as will FuboTV in the US.
How to watch Formula 1 in Canada
- TV channel: TSN (English); RDS (French)
- Live broadcast: TSN Direct
For fans in Canada, TSN will broadcast the races in English. For those looking for French language broadcasts, RDS is here for you.
The races can be streamed on fuboTV and via TSN’s streaming service, TSN Direct.
How to watch Formula 1 in the UK
- TV channel: SkySports F1
- Live broadcast: NOW TV / Sky Go app
Viewers in the UK can follow all the F1 action on Sky Sports F1, the dedicated F1 channel. Viewers planning to live stream F1 in 2023 can watch it via the Sky Go app if they’re already a subscriber, or they can buy a Sky Sports Pass on NOW TV.
How to watch Formula 1 in Australia
- TV channel: Fox Sports; channel 10
- Live broadcast: kayo
Fox Sports will broadcast all races in Australia for the 2023 season.