While Max Verstappen once again dominated Formula One qualifying to take his 34th career pole position in Saudi Arabia overnight, the story of the day came from British teen sensation Oliver Bearman who impressed on his unexpected grand prix debut at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit for Ferrari.
Bearman was subbed in last minute for Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard was diagnosed with appendicitis, and immediately impressed, narrowly missing out on Q3 by lining up 11th on the grid.
Incredibly the Brit was only 0.036 away from making it into the last part of qualifying, which would’ve come at the expense of seven-time World Champion and fellow British driver Lewis Hamilton, a man who is more than 20 years older than him.
Even more incredible for Bearman is that not only is he the youngest ever Ferrari driver, he is also the first driver to make their debut in a Ferrari since Arturo Merzario at the 1972 British Grand Prix.
And while all the talk was around the super sub, it was status quo at the front of the grid, with Verstappen taking a dominant pole from Bearman’s Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc by 0.319s.
It is the third race in a row that Verstappen and Leclerc line up in the opening two spots on the grid.
Sergio Perez was third in the second Red Bull, ahead of the impressive Fernando Alonso and Aussie Oscar Piastri.
Lando Norris will line up next to his McLaren teammate in sixth, just ahead of the two Mercedes of George Russell in seventh and Lewis Hamilton in eighth.
Yuki Tsunoda made it into Q3 for RB and will start ninth, with Lance Stroll rounding out the top ten for Aston Martin.
Daniel Ricciardo didn’t quite get the same pace out of the RB as Tsunoda and will line up on 14th.
It will be all eyes Bearman to see just exactly what he can manage as the race begins at 4am AEDT tomorrow.
QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION
1 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing 1:27.472
2 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +0.319
3 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing +0.335
4 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +0.374
5 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +0.617
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 1:28.642
12 Alexander ALBON Williams +0.338
13 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas +0.378
14 Daniel RICCIARDO RB +0.383
15 Nico HULKENBERG Haas NO TIME SET
16 Valtteri BOTTAS Kick Sauber 1:29.179
17 Esteban OCON Alpine +0.296
18 Pierre GASLY Alpine +0.300
19 Logan SARGEANT Williams +0.347
20 Guanyu ZHOU Kick Sauber NO TIME SET
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