F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Full coverage from SB Nation

This time, a McLaren driver managed to get the better of Max Verstappen.

At the Japanese Grand Prix a few weeks ago Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris entered Saturday as the favorites for pole position. But Verstappen stunned the duo by taking pole position, and then held them at bay for his first Grand Prix win of the season.

Lando Norris entered the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with a three-point lead over teammate Oscar Piastri in the Drivers’ Championship.

But a crash in Q3 on Saturday put Norris on the back foot, and the McLaren driver rolled off the line tenth when the lights went out at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Norris started on the hard tire — as opposed to the rest of the top ten who all began on the medium compound — and went long, picking up multiple places on his elongated stint. He inherited the lead on Lap 30 after the leaders all made their pit stops, but eventually settled for a fourth-place finish, just over a second behind third-place finisher Charles Leclerc.

Seeing Max Verstappen battle a McLaren driver into Turn 1 of a Formula 1 Grand Prix has become something of the norm these past two seasons.

While often Verstappen is fighting Lando Norris, on Sunday at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix he was battling with Oscar Piastri after the lights went out at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. With Verstappen starting on pole position, and Piastri alongside him on the front row, the two battled into the first corner after the McLaren driver got a tremendous start off the line. Verstappen managed to hold onto the position, going off track to do so, and was ultimately given a five-second penalty for leaving the track to gain an advantage.

All that is left is the fight for the checkered flag.

As he has already done this season, Max Verstappen surprised everyone by snatching pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, finishing 0.010 seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri. But as Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner noted after qualifying, Verstappen is going to have his hands full when the lights go out later today.

Max Verstappen stunned the field to take pole position for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

But the job is not done for the Red Bull driver.

The Jeddah Corniche Circuit is one of the fastest street circuits in the world. Its combination of high speeds, 27 corners, and the ever-looming walls push drivers to the limit, and punishes the smallest of mistakes.

That was the fate of Lando Norris during qualifying for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris entered Saturday’s qualifying session as the favorite for pole position.

But a wobble on his first push lap in Q3 saw the McLaren driver find the wall, bring out the red flag, and end his dreams of pole position. With teammate Oscar Piastri the only driver to set a time ahead of his crash, the grid was left chasing the one McLaren driver.

Speaking Friday after the second practice session at the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Lando Norris admitted that he was “confident,” but not “comfortable” with McLaren’s pace.

That comfort level might be rising in the hours ahead of qualifying.

Lando Norris topped the timing sheets in Friday’s second practice session ahead of the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, besting teammate Oscar Piastri by 0.163 seconds. Norris finished P2 during the first practice session earlier in the day, just 0.007 seconds behind Pierre Gasly, but the second session is more representative of what to expect from qualifying and Sunday’s Grand Prix, given the nighttime start.

Speaking after the session Norris admitted that he was “confident,” but by no means “comfortable” given the competitive nature of the field.

Thursday’s media day ahead of the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was dominated by speculation over Max Verstappen’s future at Red Bull. With senior advisor Helmut Marko expressing his concern that the four-time Drivers’ champion might leave the team, and reports emerging of Aston Martin making a shocking offer for his services, the driver used the FIA Press Conference to pour cold water on the rumors.

Friday gave Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner a chance to do the same.

If it is a Friday ahead of a Formula 1 Grand Prix, it is time to talk upgrades.

Friday is when the FIA releases the “Car Presentation Submissions,” listing all the new components teams have installed for the first time this season. As you will see in a moment, several of the components teams are using this week are “circuit-specific” components, designed for the unique characteristics of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, one of the fastest street circuits in the world.

It was a case of the glass being half-full, or half-empty, for Lando Norris at the Bahrain Grand Prix a week ago.

On the one hand, Norris managed to recover from a difficult qualifying session to finish on the podium, making it four-for-for in podium finishes in Grands Prix this season. That is the kind of recovery drive that keeps you in contention for a Drivers’ Championship.

George Russell entered the 2025 Formula 1 season in a fascinating position. With Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, Russell had inherited the veteran role at Mercedes, with young phenom Kimi Antonelli securing the second seat with the Silver Arrows.

Like Antonelli, however, Russell also entered the year on an expiring contract.

The first triple-header of the 2025 Formula 1 season draws to a close this weekend, with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and there is no shortage of storylines to discuss.

Let’s waste no time, and dive right in.

Saturday evening at the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix the mood at Haas was rather bleak.

Rookie driver Oliver Bearman had just qualified last for the race, while Esteban Ocon’s crash during Q2 left the mechanics with some work to do ahead of the Grand Prix, and the veteran driver slotted in P14 on the starting grid.