Saudi Arabia Grand Prix

The third of the triple header (after Japan and Bahrain) is in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and it’s another floodlit night race.

Free Practice

1. FP1: GAS (1:29.239), NOR, LEC, PIA, ALB
   PIA tapped a wall but escaped damage, as did LEC
   TSU was faster than teammate VER in some sectors
   GAS locked up but recovered
   BEA completely locked up and tapped the wall at Turn 1
2. FP2: NOR (1:28.267), PIA, VER, LEC, SAI
   The Sauber mechanics are working on a fuel leak in BOR’s car – unfortunately they couldn’t fix it during the session
   TSU hit the wall on the inside of a corner, broke the suspension, slide across the track and into the other wall, bringing out the red flag
   ANT and PIA tapped the wall but without damage
   STR locked up into Turn 1, the Aston Martin spun around but he recovered
   DOO took too much kerb, kicking up a lot of sparks from the legality plank
   ALB nearly rear-ended a slow-moving HAM
   VER blocked NOR
3. FP3: NOR (1:27.489), PIA, RUS, VER, LEC
   BOR was first on track with his Sauber’s fuel leak now fixed
   TSU blocked PIA

Penalties:
LAW was given a warning because he “entered the painted area between the pit entry and the track” in FP1, but he did it a second time for which he received a reprimand.
DOO got the same treatment: a warning for the same infringement in FP1 and a reprimand for doing it again in FP3.

Qualifying

Air temperature 29°C; track 38°C; humidity 62%

Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
The Haas pair line up, followed by DOO then both Saubers, waiting for the lights to change
OCO 1:29.924
BEA 1:29.167
DOO 1:29.150
HUL 1:29.070
ALB 1:28.866
NOR 1:28.026
(VER P2)
PIA 1:28.019
There’s a plastic bag on the racing line – will they need to pause the session to remove it?
HAD tapped the wall in the final turn; no obvious damage but they’ll want to check it over
NOR 1:27.805
5mins left; bottom 5 are DOO, LAW, GAS, OCO, BOR
That was an unsafe for GAS – he still had the front-right tyre blanket attached; he stopped before the “fast lane” but the team will get penalised
2mins left; just NOR remains in the pits
DOO P13, relegating BEA to P16
VER 1:27.778
Brief yellow flag – was that for BOR losing the tail and stopping briefly mid-track
LAW P11, HUL P16
GAS P9, DOO P16
BEA P10, STR P16
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are STR, DOO, HUL, OCO, BOR
STR P16
DOO P17
HUL P18
Back of the grid: STR, DOO, HUL, OCO, BOR

Qualifying session 2
LAW noted for an unsafe release
ALB 1:28.581
GAS 1:28.474
SAI 1:28.309
PIA 1:27.690
VER 1:27.529
NOR 1:27.481
5mins left; bottom 5 are ALB, BEA, HAD, ALO, LAW
ALB P6, GAS P11
HAD P11
LAW P10, HAM P11
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are HAM, HAD, GAS, BEA, ALO
HAM P8, LAW P11
GAS P8, TSU P11
ALO P13
TSU P7, ALB P11
Middle of the grid: ALB, LAW, ALO, HAD, BEA

Top 10 shootout is between NOR, VER, PIA, RUS, ANT, LEC, TSU, SAI, GAS, HAM

Qualifying session 3
PIA 1:27.560
NOR has wiped out on a wall; red flags
Replay shows he took too much kerb coming out of Turn 4, it unsettled the McLaren and he slid into the outside wall
Green light to resume Q3
SAI P2
VER 1:27.559 (that’s 0.001 sec quicker than PIA)
RUS 1:27.407
TSU P4
ANT P4
LEC P4″
HAM P6
PIA 1:27.304
Chequered flag; order is PIA, RUS, VER, LEC, ANT, HAM, TSU, GAS, SAI, NOR
VER 1:27.294
SAI P6
Front of the grid: VER, PIA, RUS, LEC, ANT, SAI, HAM, TSU, GAS, NOR

Provisional grid: VER, PIA, RUS, LEC, ANT, SAI, HAM, TSU, GAS, NOR, ALB, LAW, ALO, HAD, BEA, STR, DOO, HUL, OCO, BOR
No penalties.

Race

Pit lane is open; drivers can make their way to the grid
Air temperature 28°C; track 38°C; humidity 74%

VER leads everyone away on the formation lap
Everyone starting on the medium compound tyres except NOR, HAD, STR and HUL on hard tyres

01/50: PIA has the inside line into Turn 1; VER cuts the corner, so expect him to claim it’s PIA’s fault
TSU and GAS made contact and they’re both in the wall
Safety Car deployed
TSU seems to be running again

02[SC]: VER, PIA, RUS, LEC, ANT, HAM, SAI, NOR, ALB, ALO
DOO pits, as do OCO and BOR
TSU makes it to the pits but they retire the car
Replay shows GAS around the outside of TSU but it’s not clear who’s to blame

03[SC]: SC in at the end of this lap
Sure enough, VER claims it’s PIA’s fault that VER decided to cut Turn 1; if the roles were reversed, he’d be claiming the car that cut the corner gained an unfair advantage

04: 5-sec penalty for VER gaining an advantage
HAD steals P10 from ALO

05/50: VER*, PIA, RUS, LEC, ANT, HAM, SAI, NOR, ALB, HAD, ALO, LAW, BEA, STR, HUL, DOO, OCO, BOR; out: TSU, GAS
Radio for VER telling him of the penalty; VER of course thinks it’s unfair

06: PIA has DRS behind VER

07: NOR past SAI for P7
ANT has DRS behind LEC

09: LEC’s broken the DRS

10/50: VER*, PIA, RUS, LEC, ANT, HAM, NOR, SAI, ALB, HAD

12: PIA has DRS behind VER again
NOR has DRS behind HAM

13: NOR inside HAM for P6… but HAM has DRS and reclaims the place
LAW has taken P12 from BEA
HAM slows and NOR takes P6 but again that means HAM gets DRS and re-passes the McLaren

15/50: VER*, PIA, RUS, LEC, ANT, HAM, NOR, SAI, ALB, HAD
This time NOR stays behind HAM at the DRS detection point so he can use DRS to pass the Ferrari
LAW inside ALO for P11

17: We’re into the window for medium tyre runners to make their pit stop, although the few laps behind the SC might have delayed this

18: Radio from RUS saying his “tyres are toast”
NOR filling ANT’s mirrors

19: NOR gets DRS and takes P5 from ANT
PIA gets the call to box

20/50: PIA pits from P2; hards go on; it was a bit slow; rejoins P6
ANT pits; rejoins P11
Radio for VER telling him to push

21: RUS pits; hards; P7
PIA around the outside of HAM to take P4

22: VER pits; serves the 5-sec penalty; hards go on; rejoins P5
SAI pits; P15

23: VER closing on HAM
HAM defends P4 but the Ferrari looks a bit squirmy

24: HAM pits, releasing VER; hards; P8
SAI takes P12 from DOO

25/50: LEC, NOR, PIA, VER, RUS, HAD, ANT, HAM, STR, HUL, OCO, SAI, DOO, ALB…
ALO nearly got squeezed into the wall by BOR into Turn 1; seemed like BOR wasn’t aware

28: It’s now the pit window for those who started on hard tyres
SAI inside HUL for P10
LAW takes P14 from DOO

30/50: LEC pits from P1; hards go on; rejoins P5
ANT takes P6 from HAD

31: SAI easily past STR for P9

32: ANT brushed the wall with his front-right

33: LEC starting to reel in RUS

35/50: NOR, PIA, VER, RUS, LEC, ANT, HAD, HAM, SAI, ALB
NOR pits from P1; mediums go on; rejoins P5
STR is the only one yet to make their mandatory stop

36: Black and white flag for BOR for moving under braking, when he nearly took out ALO

37: LEC continues to close up on RUS; he’s now got DRS

38: LEC takes P3 from the Mercedes
LAW given 10-sec penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage

39: Radio from PIA reporting a red flashing light on a balcony that looks a lot like an official warning light

40/50: PIA, VER, LEC, RUS, NOR, ANT, HAM, SAI, ALB, HAD
NOR crossing the white line on the way out of the pit lane has been noted
Radio for OCO telling him to switch positions with teammate BEA; BEA takes P13

41: NOR takes P4 from RUS
SAI was told to let teammate ALB get in DRS range before they set off to catch HAM, or at least pull away from HAD

42: HAD hangs onto ALB’s tail

43: No further investigation for NOR crossing the pit exit line

45/50: PIA, VER, LEC, NOR, RUS, ANT, HAM, SAI, ALB, HAD, LAW, ALO, BEA, OCO, HUL, BOR, STR, DOO; out: TSU, GAS

46: Radio from PIA complaining STR needs to get out of the way
NOR under 2secs behind LEC
STR is lapped by PIA but uses that tow to take P16 from BOR

48: Radio from RUS concerned about his front-left tyre, wondering if it’ll last for the remaining laps; he’s told “no tyre concerns”

49: NOR is 1.4sec behind LEC

50/50: PIA is 2.5sec clear of VER, who in turn is 5sec ahead of LEC

PIA takes the chequered flag

Provisional result: PIA, VER, LEC, NOR, RUS, ANT, HAM, SAI, ALB, HAD; LAW*, ALO, BEA, OCO, HUL, STR, BOR, DOO
DNF: TSU, GAS
*Penalties:
LAW received a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, dropping him to P12.

[2025 calendar and driver line-up]