The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix takes place today, with Sergio Perez on pole position for Red Bull.
The rapid streets of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit play host to its third F1 grand prix with reigning world champion Max Verstappen involved in fascinating duels for the lead in both previous years at this track.
The Dutchman’s Red Bull was expected to be at the front once again for this race after cruising to victory at the Bahrain season opener, before completing Friday practice in Saudi top of the timesheets.
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However, an unexpected power issue with his RB19 saw him shockingly exit qualifying in Q2 on Saturday and subsequently start from 15th place on the grid as a difficult fight through the field looms.
Team-mate Perez took pole instead once again in Jeddah, with Fernando Alonso in second for Aston Martin after Charles Leclerc’s 10-place grid penalty after going over his allocation of electronics control units for the season already with Ferrari.
A place on the top steps currently appears beyond Mercedes, who faced a sobering start to the 2023 season which is not likely to improve any time soon with Lewis Hamilton down in eighth - five places behind team-mate George Russell. Carlos Sainz joins Russell on the second row for Ferrari.
When is the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix takes place today on Sunday March 19, 2023 at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
What time is the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?
With all three practice sessions and qualifying now in the books, the race itself is due to begin on Sunday afternoon at 5pm GMT.
How can I watch the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?
TV channel: The whole weekend will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK with coverage of the race starting at 3.30pm GMT on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event. Free highlights are available on Channel 4 at 10.15pm.
Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers can also watch the race live via the Sky Go app.
Live blog: You can follow all the action on Sunday with Standard Sport’s live race blog.
Who is on pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?
Sergio Perez took pole position in Saudi for the second successive season on Saturday, having nailed his first lap in Q3 to beat Charles Leclerc.
Those are the only pole positions of his career to date.
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying results in full
1 Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1min 28.265secs
2 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:28.420 (demoted to 12th with 10-place grid penalty)
3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:28.730
4 George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:28.857
5 Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Ferrari 1:28.931
6 Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:28.945
7 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:29.078
8 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:29.223
9 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:29.243
10 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:29.357
11 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) MoneyGram Haas F1 1:29.451
12 Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake 1:29.461
13 Kevin Magnussen (Den) MoneyGram Haas F1 1:29.517
14 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake 1:29.668
15 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:49.953
16 Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:29.939
17 Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:29.994
18 Nyck de Vries (Ned) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:30.244
19 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:30.447
20 Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams 2:08.510
