F1 Qualifying Results: Max Verstappen shines in Saudi Arabia as McLaren star in costly crash

Red Bull star Max Verstappen took a stunning pole position at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Saturday night as McLaren rival Lando Norris suffered a devastating crash in Jeddah.

Verstappen set a blistering lap time of 1:27:294secs to snatch his second pole of the season, edging Oscar Piastri by just 0.010secs.

Pole position has proved crucial so far in 2025, with the car starting at the front of the order going on to win every grand prix so far this campaign. Verstappen and Red Bull will hope that trend continues on Sunday.

Aside from Verstappen's brilliance, the biggest story coming out of qualifying is undoubtedly Norris' crash in Q3.

The Brit had looked strong in Q1 and Q2, but made an error on his first hot lap in the final stage of qualifying, getting a snap of the car that he was unable to correct and, as a result, smashing his car into the barriers at Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Norris will now start Sunday's race down in P10.

With that said, let's take a look at the qualifying results in full, including Q3 lap times.

F1 Results Today: Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying

Q3

Eliminated in Q2

Eliminated in Q3

How does F1 Qualifying work?

The qualifying session is split into three finite windows, which provide a dramatic prelude to Sunday's race.

The bottom five drivers are eliminated at the end of Q1, with a further five eliminated after Q2.

Then, Q3 gives us a shootout between the remaining 10 drivers in the battle for positions at the front of the grid.

F1 HEADLINES: Verstappen issues statement as FIA announce Red Bull star’s Saudi GP penalty verdict

Related

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix FP2

F1 Results Today: Lando Norris edges championship rival as Red Bull star in damaging crash

• April 18, 2025 20:28

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

FIA confirm RB star under investigation after Saudi Arabian Grand Prix incident

• April 18, 2025 17:35