F1 2023 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix race time Australia, qualifying, results, grid, Oscar Piastri
Australia’s Oscar Piastri produced a stunning drive in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, while world champion Max Verstappen bombed out.
F1
Don't miss out on the headlines from F1. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Australia’s Oscar Piastri produced a stunning drive in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to score eighth spot on the grid.
“It was a very, very good session obviously, I’m very happy,” Piastri said. “We could have just as easily been out of Q1 with the tightness of the field.
“(But I’m) very happy to get into Q3”.
“It’s nice to be starting in the points and hopefully we finish there.”
The McLaren young gun produced the ninth best time but was elevated a spot due to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc receiving a +10 grid spot penalty.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez will start from pole position but his teammate, world champion Max Verstappen, will only be in 15th after pulling up with a car problem during Saturday’s qualifying.
Perez, who also took pole in last year’s race here, topped the leaderboard with a best lap of one minute 28.265 seconds.
Leclerc was second, 0.155sec behind Perez, but faces a 10-place grid drop, leaving Fernando Alonso to start on the front row in his Aston Martin.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton could only post the eighth-quickest time but his teammate George Russell was fourth fastest and will start third, alongside the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.
Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon will be on the third row of the grid.
Verstappen, who won the opening race in Bahrain at the start of the month, had dominated practice, topping the board in each of the three sessions.
However, in Q2 he reported to his team “I have a problem” before adding “it’s almost not accelerating”.
The Dutchman pulled up and will start on the eighth row of the grid.
VERSTAPPEN SHRUGS OFF ILLNESS TO TOP PRACTICE
Max Verstappen showed no ill effects from a stomach bug as he topped the times for Red Bull ahead of Fernando Alonso in the second free practice at this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The defending double world champion, shaking off the stomach upset that had delayed his arrival in Jeddah by 24 hours, clocked a best lap in one minute 29.603 seconds to outpace two-time champion Alonso’s Aston Martin by 0.208 seconds.
Sergio Perez was third in the second Red Bull ahead of Esteban Ocon of Alpine, George Russell of Mercedes and Pierre Gasly in the second Alpine.
Alonso’s Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll was seventh ahead of Nico Hulkenberg of Haas and the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, both of whom were equipped with new power units.
Leclerc already has a 10-place grid penalty for the race on Monday morning (AEDT) for taking a third electronic control unit of the season.
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was 11th for Mercedes, with a best lap of 1:30.599, a second slower than Verstappen, on the day he announced he was no longer working with his long-serving performance coach Angela Cullen.
Alonso’s performance confirmed his speed this year after a strong showing to finish third in the season-opening race in Bahrain, but it was Verstappen who set the pace with some ease.
After Verstappen’s early supremacy in a Red Bull one-two in opening practice the second session began in cooler conditions, the air temperature descending to 25 degrees and the track from 44 to 31.
Stroll was the first man out, Sainz the early pace-setter, but only for five minutes before the world champion once again went top only for Alonso to reply, two-tenths faster.
Stirred again, both medium-clad Red Bulls responded. Verstappen with 1:29.952 ahead of Perez until Alonso, on softs, split them again. His Aston Martin appeared to be the only car capable of fighting with them.
And then Perez clocked a 1:29.902 as last year’s pole sitter Leclerc emerged unscathed from a close brush with Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas.
The close dicing at the front continued with the Red Bulls narrowly ahead of Alonso and then a gap of two-tenths to the pack led, after half an hour, by Hulkenberg and Gasly.
The top three were separated by 0.012 before Verstappen, again, lifted the bar in 1:29.603 after switching to softs for a brief simulation of what may lie ahead in qualifying.
At this time, Russell climbed to fourth for Mercedes, but Hamilton was 11th. “We need to make some big changes,” said Russell in a stern voice. “Yes, copy,” retorted his pit wall, seemingly sensitive to the team’s need for a changed approach as they seek to reverse their slump.
F1 STAR ‘UNEASY’ AFTER MISSILE ATTACK AND EXECUTIONS
Lewis Hamilton was wary about safety in this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah a year after a missile attack near the track.
Yemeni rebels targeted an oil refinery near the Jeddah Street Circuit last year and the drivers were grilled by reporters about their state of nerves.
Last year’s Grand Prix was punctuated by meetings involving drivers and officials from Formula One and the sport’s ruling body, the International Motoring Federation (FIA).
The drivers said they had been told there was a ceasefire between Saudi Arabia and Yemeni rebels now.
Most drivers said Formula One had made progress in improving security but the wider spectre of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record remained an issue that was mostly left aside.
“I can’t speak for the other 19 drivers, but in general I think we are happy and have no concerns with the changes put in place since last time for this year,” said George Russell of Mercedes.
“There were a lot of lessons to be learned and F1 has really stepped up -- and that’s not just here in Saudi but at all the Grands Prix.”
Others including Haas’s Kevin Magnussen, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and McLaren’s Lando Norris expressed total trust in the sport’s administration -- a feeling not shared by Mercedes other driver: seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
When asked about his feelings on returning to race in Saudi Arabia, he said: “Not much really to add -- but all the opposite to everything they said,” referring to Stroll and Perez who had spoken before him at a news conference.
“Hopefully, everyone has a safe weekend and hopefully everyone gets back safe afterwards. That’s as much as we can do, right?”
Speaking about last year, Magnussen said: “None of us enjoyed it. But, I think it’s a different situation now, with a different protocol and a ceasefire between the two parties that were involved and that gives some confidence.”
Perez said he was “happy to be back.”
Hamilton raised another issue -- Saudi Arabia’s rights record. “I still feel that, as a sport going to places with human rights issues, such as this one, the sport is duty-bound to raise awareness and try to leave a positive impact.”
Human rights group Reprieve has accused F1 of “never seriously engaging with human rights and the way the sport is used to distract attention from abuses by some of the world’s most repressive regimes.”
Reprieve director Maya Foa said there had been at least 13 executions carried out in Saudi Arabia in the last two weeks.
Formula One responded in a statement that it had made its “position on human rights and other issues clear to all our partners and host countries who commit to respect human rights in the way their events are hosted and delivered.”
IS MAX FIT TO DRIVE?
Double world champion Max Verstappen delayed his arrival at this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix by 24 hours due to a stomach illness.
But the 25-year-old Dutchman confirmed in a tweet that he is “feeling fine again” and, having delayed his flight to Jeddah, will instead arrive for practice on Friday.
His Red Bull team also tweeted to confirm Verstappen’s absence. “Max has been suffering from a stomach illness over the past few days and with the agreement of the FIA will not be present on track today,” said the team.
After victory in a crushing Red Bull one-two at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Verstappen leads the drivers’ championship ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.
FERRARI HAVE ISSUES
Charles Leclerc said on Thursday that he and the Ferrari team are concerned about their continuing reliability problems, but still believe in their potential.
The Monegasque driver will pay the price for mechanical problems with a 10-place grid penalty at this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Ferrari changed two electronic engine components in Leclerc’s car over the opening weekend in Bahrain and announced on Wednesday that they were switching a third time. That means that before the second race has even started Leclerc has passed the permitted total of two changes in a power unit for the 23-race season.
“It’s the way it is,” he said. “It’s the beginning of the season and, of course, it’s not the ideal start. But what can I do about it?
“Now we need to focus on what is ahead, what we can do to be a better team, to do better.
“This weekend we are starting from the back foot, but our target is to try and do something special. I like this challenge of starting a little bit more on the back foot and trying to do something special and come back to the front as quickly as possible!” He said he had been working to galvanise the team and rebuild morale after the season-opening race in Bahrain where he was forced to retire due to the power unit problem.
“We’ve still got many races to go and we still need to be fighting like crazy to be back at the top and keep pushing,” he conceded.
“I still believe in it and of course we still need to all believe in it because it’s only the first race. So, it hasn’t gone as planned -- and when it’s Ferrari and it doesn’t go as well as it should, then there are lots of voices and all of this around the team.” Carlos Sainz echoed his team-mates sentiments.
“Yes, for sure, we are concerned,” said the Spaniard. “It’s not the way to start the season with a penalty at race two. We have identified the battery issues as a weakness and it has taken us by surprise.
“We are putting things in place to fix it and we’re pretty sure that we are capable of fixing that in the short term.
“But, for now, it’s a bad situation. So, we have to fix it, go forward and be more competitive.”
More Coverage
Originally published as F1 2023 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix race time Australia, qualifying, results, grid, Oscar Piastri
‘Nightmare’ for F1 fans securing tickets
Fans hoping to get their hands on tickets to the 2025 Australian Grand Prix have been left disappointed, with some claiming dynamic pricing meant they couldn’t go.
Neurosurgeon dashes Schumacher hopes
A sad update on Michael Schumacher’s condition has dropped just days after wedding rumours that gave the world hope.