Qualifying for the 2024 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix concluded at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in the early hours of 9 March Beijing time. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed pole with a stunning 1:27.472, his first pole position at Jeddah. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was second, 0.319 seconds behind, with Sergio Pérez third for Red Bull.
Verstappen’s opening Q3 flying lap was already good enough for pole; a second attempt was not needed to secure it. He said afterwards that, apart from the final corner, it had felt almost identical to his flying lap in 2021 before the crash. Three years earlier, he had been on course for pole when he locked up and hit the wall at the final turn. This time, he avoided a repeat.
The battle for second was extremely close. Leclerc displaced Pérez with his final flying lap, just 0.016 seconds separating them. Fernando Alonso used Hamilton’s slipstream to take fourth, only 0.039 seconds behind Pérez. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were fifth and sixth respectively.
RB’s Yuki Tsunoda finished ninth on his first Q3 appearance of the season. He set his personal best on his final Q2 run, beating Lance Stroll and Lewis Hamilton to advance. Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was eliminated in Q2 and qualified fourteenth.
Ferrari reserve Oliver Bearman made an encouraging impression on his qualifying debut. Despite limited preparation, he finished eleventh, just 0.036 seconds short of the Q3 cut-off, with seven-time champion Hamilton narrowly escaping elimination at his hands. Bearman had been 0.666 seconds behind team-mate Leclerc in Q1.
The five Q1 eliminations were the same as in Bahrain: Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu. Sauber only got Zhou out of the pits with 1 minute 50 seconds left in Q1, and the chequered flag fell before he could begin a flying lap. In Q2, Nico Hülkenberg stopped at Turn 8 with a power-unit problem and caused a red flag, preventing most drivers from completing that run.
| Position | No. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:28.171 | 1:28.033 | 1:27.472 | 18 |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:28.318 | 1:28.112 | 1:27.791 | 23 |
| 3 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull | 1:28.638 | 1:28.467 | 1:27.807 | 19 |
| 4 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:28.706 | 1:28.122 | 1:27.846 | 17 |
| 5 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:28.755 | 1:28.343 | 1:28.089 | 22 |
| 6 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:28.805 | 1:28.479 | 1:28.132 | 22 |
| 7 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:28.749 | 1:28.448 | 1:28.316 | 22 |
| 8 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:28.994 | 1:28.606 | 1:28.460 | 24 |
| 9 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 1:28.988 | 1:28.564 | 1:28.547 | 18 |
| 10 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:28.250 | 1:28.578 | 1:28.572 | 19 |
| 11 | 38 | Oliver Bearman | Ferrari | 1:28.984 | 1:28.642 | – | 18 |
| 12 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 1:29.107 | 1:28.980 | – | 16 |
| 13 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:29.069 | 1:29.020 | – | 17 |
| 14 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 1:29.065 | 1:29.025 | – | 12 |
| 15 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas | 1:29.055 | DNF | – | 10 |
| 16 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | 1:29.179 | – | – | 9 |
| 17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:29.475 | – | – | 10 |
| 18 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:29.479 | – | – | 9 |
| 19 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1:29.526 | – | – | 9 |
| NC | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber | DNF | – | – | 2 |
