ANKARA
Red Bull’s Mexican driver Sergio Perez on Saturday sealed the pole position for Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Formula One.
Perez claimed the top spot with a minute and 28.265 seconds in the qualifying stage in Jeddah to start as a leader in Sunday’s contest.
His Dutch teammate and championship leader Max Verstappen has left in the Q2 for technical problems. On Sunday, Verstappen was confirmed to start the race from the 15th place on the grid.
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) was 0.155 seconds behind Perez to be second in Saturday’s qualifying. But Leclerc has lost 10 spots for an engine penalty as he was sanctioned by the F1 this week.
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) came third on Saturday, but jumped to the front row for Sunday’s Saudi Arabian GP.
Mercedes’ George Russell will start third in Jeddah to chase both Perez and Alonso.
Launched in 2021, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be run over 50 laps at the 6.1-kilometer (3.79-mile) Jeddah Corniche Circuit and will start at 1700GMT.
