The Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) will start first this Sunday at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the second of the Formula One World Cup, which takes place on the urban circuit of Jeddah, where the Asturian double world champion Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) will start second, next to him, from the first row; and the other Spaniard, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), will do so from fourth place.
‘Checo’ signed the second ‘pole’ of his career in F1 -after the one he achieved in this same setting last year- by dominating qualifying this Saturday, in which he covered the 6,174 meters of the track located on the banks of the Red Sea in one minute, 28 seconds and 265 thousandths, 155 less than the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) -who loses ten places on the grid, due to sanction- and with 465 over the Asturian double world champion, who marked the third time in the qualifying but will start second this Sunday in Jeddah.
The penalty for Leclerc, who will start eleventh this Sunday -for having already changed the control unit of his SF23 twice-, implies that all those who qualified behind him advance one place on the grid, in which Sainz will start fourth, from the second row and next to Englishman George Russell (Mercedes), third in the starting lineup.
The Canadian Lance Stroll, Alonso’s new teammate, will start fifth, from the third row, in which he will be accompanied by the Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Alpine); behind them will be the other Mercedes, that of the seven-time English world champion Lewis Hamilton, and the Australian rookie Oscar Piastri (McLaren).
The French Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and the German Nico Hülkenberg (Haas) will do it from the fifth row, in the ninth and tenth place on the grid, respectively. AND