Verstappen does it again and beats McLaren in Jeddah: "I didn't expect to be on pole here at all!"

Max Verstappen has done it again! Two weeks ago, the Dutchman took a completely unexpected pole position in Japan, on Honda's home turf, beating the two McLaren on the Suzuka circuit. Two weeks later, the four-time world champion repeated this performance by securing another masterful pole position in Jeddah, for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Dutchman achieved the feat of beating both McLarens – or rather, Oscar Piatsri's McLaren after the accident Lando Norris at the start of Q3 – who were thought to be unbeatable, given their significant lead in Free Practice.

POLE FOR VERSTAPPEN IN JEDDAH! 😱

WHAT A LAP FOR THE DUTCHMAN: 10 THOUSANDTHS AHEAD PLATES !#SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/mpDRDnxDao

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) April 19, 2025

And yet: by deciding to go out as soon as possible after the red flag in Q3, Max Verstappen was able to complete two flying laps to better prepare his tires, a strategy that seems to work better than a single warm-up lap. In the final moments of Q3, the driver Red Bull came to steal pole position by just 10 thousandths of a second ahead of Oscar Piastri! A tiny lead and a second pole position in 2025 for Max Verstappen, who will try to maintain his starting position advantage to seek a second victory this season.

Max Verstappen (Red Bull), poleman of the Saudi Arabian GP : “I’m very happy. I didn’t expect to be on pole position here at all, especially considering FP3 and the whole weekend. The car came alive in these night conditions. We made a few changes and it was much more enjoyable to drive, the grip was finally there. Qualifying laps here are very difficult because of the walls, you have to nail everything.”

"It's very satisfying to be first here in qualifying. It's obviously the best position for [Sunday], although I think tomorrow in the race it will be difficult to keep [the McLarens] behind, but we'll give it our all. (…) We'll do our best. So far, I'm happy that we've had a solid qualifying, much better than what we had in Bahrain of course. We'll see what we can do tomorrow in the race."

ALSO READ > Saudi Arabia – Qualifying: A brilliant Verstappen on pole, Norris hits the wall