Roundup of FP3 and Qualifying as Max Verstappen claimed pole for 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Verstappen topped FP3 and proceeded to dominate Qualifying to take his first pole on the streets of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, whilst Charles Leclerc headed the chasing pack behind the Dutchman.
There however was an unexpected driver change at Ferrari as Carlos Sainz withdrew due to appendicitis and was replaced by Oliver Bearman, who was competing in the F2 round at the same venue and set to begin the F2 Feature Race from pole tomorrow (9 March).
Now here is a full roundup of FP3 and Qualifying for 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
FP3
Carlos Sainz has been diagnosed with appendicitis and will require surgery.
As from FP3 and for the rest of this weekend, he will be replaced by reserve driver Oliver Bearman. Oliver will therefore take no further part in this round of the F2 Championship.
The Ferrari family… pic.twitter.com/zePBeZlJED
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 8, 2024
Two hours before FP3 commenced, Ferrari announced that Carlos Sainz had withdrawn from the weekend due to appendicitis and was replaced by Academy driver, Bearman for the remainder of this event.
Once the session began, Stake’s Valtteri Bottas was first out on track and set a benchmark 1m 31.307 on the medium tyres – ahead of Bearman who primarily focused on adjusting to his new machinery for much of the session on the medium tyre.
Bottas soon traded fastest laps with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who ran the soft tyre in his opening stint, with Bearman briefly splitting the pair in the 12th minute at the top of the timesheet as the 18 year-old posted 1m 30.277 but Hamilton went 0.024 seconds a further minute later.
George Russell went fastest with 1m 29.862 in the 20th minute but by the halfway mark, Bearman’s teammate – Charles Leclerc headed the order with 1m 29.206 ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.
Logan Sargeant’s session meanwhile ended prematurely without a lap time after he hit the wall at Turn 22.
Up front, Verstappen went fastest in the 31st minute with 1m 28.893 as the soft-tyre qualifying simulations began but found 0.481s just five minutes later to top the session with 1m 28.412.
The session was red flagged with 17 minutes left after Guanyu Zhou spun out at Turn 7 and slid into the barriers at Turn 8 but resumed with five minutes left for everyone to attempt one last qualifying simulation.
At the checkered flag, Verstappen failed to improve on his final lap as he headed Leclerc and Perez whilst Russell, Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and Oscar Piastri in the top eight.
Hamilton finished ninth-fastest and just 0.038s clear of Bearman who managed to finish 10th in his first proper F1 session inside a Ferrari – having previously drove in two FP1 sessions for Haas at the back end of last season.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 28.412 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.196 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.494 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.552 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.559 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.626 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.715 |
| 8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.801 |
| 9 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.856 |
| 10 | Oliver Bearman | Ferrari | + 0.894 |
| 11 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.073 |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.134 |
| 13 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 1.160 |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.163 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 1.263 |
| 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | + 1.328 |
| 17 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.396 |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Stake | + 1.671 |
| 19 | Guanyu Zhou | Stake | + 2.327 |
| 20 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | No Time |
Qualifying
Q1
Magnussen was first out on track and set a benchmark 1m 29.528 but his time was quickly beaten by several drivers, whilst Bearman drove a steady first lap in his first Qualifying appearance in F1 machinery but improved on his second lap to go inside the top-ten.
Once everyone completed their first flying laps except Zhou whose car was still being repaired, the elimination zone compromised of; Gasly, Sargeant, Bottas, Ocon and Zhou, whilst Verstappen headed the order on 1m 28.491.
As the checkered flag fell, none of the bottom five could escape but Bottas qualified 16th ahead of Ocon, Gasly and Sargeant, whilst Zhou qualified last after he failed to reach the line in time – having left the pits with just under two minutes left.
Verstappen topped Q1 with 1m 28.171 whilst Bearman managed ninth in his first Qualifying segment.
Q2
Magnussen was first out on track but this time gave Hulkenberg a tow but his teammate suffered a power unit failure on his first flier and stopped at Turn 8, which caused a five-minute red flag with 10 minutes and 58s left on the clock whilst Russell headed those who managed to get a lap time in before the pause with 1m 28.608.
Bearman however was the first driver to head back out on track once the segment resumed but aborted his first flier after he made a mistake in to Turn 4.
Once everyone completed at least one lap, Verstappen headed the order on 1m 28.078 whilst the bottom five compromised of; Magnussen, Ricciardo, Albon and Bearman plus the eliminated Hulkenberg – who played no further part in the session after the red flag.
Once the checkered flag fell, Bearman managed to qualify 11th ahead of Albon, Magnussen and Ricciardo but missed out on Q3 by just 0.036s to Hamilton, whilst Verstappen topped Q2 with 1m 28.033.
Q3
Leclerc was first out on track but Hamilton set the benchmark pole time of 1m 28.807 only to be displaced quickly as Verstappen emerged quickest after the first flying laps with 1m 27.472 ahead of Perez, Alonso, Leclerc, Russell, Piastri, Norris, Stroll, Hamilton and Tsunoda with some having ran used soft tyres.
Everyone however were on fresh soft tyres for their final runs as Verstappen claimed his first pole position at the Saudi Arabian GP, despite having failed to improve on his final lap as Leclerc joins him on the front row ahead of Perez, Alonso, Piastri, Norris, Russell, Hamilton, Tsunoda and Stroll.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 27.472 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.319 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.335 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.374 |
| 5 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.627 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.660 |
| 7 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.844 |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.988 |
| 9 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 1.075 |
| 10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.100 |
| 11 | Oliver Bearman | Ferrari | + 1m 28.642 |
| 12 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.338 |
| 13 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.378 |
| 14 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | + 0.383 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | No Time |
| 16 | Valtteri Bottas | Stake | + 1m 29.179 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.296 |
| 18 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.300 |
| 19 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 0.347 |
| 20 | Guanyu Zhou | Stake | No Time |