In a close-fought final Q3 shootout at the Jeddah Corniche street circuit, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr led the way after the first round of attempts before being demoted by team-mate Charles Leclerc, setting up a Ferrari front row for Sunday’s race.
But Red Bull driver Perez surprised the Ferrari duo by dipping 0.025s below Leclerc’s time with his final effort. With his team-mate Verstappen settling for fourth, 31-year-old Perez sealed his first F1 pole for what will be his 215th race start of a career that began in 2011.
The Mexican, who becomes his nation’s first ever pole-winner, says his 1m28.200s lap was “unbelievable” and doesn’t think he could have gone any quicker on the high-speed street track.
“It took me a couple of races but what a lap, man, it was unbelievable,” Perez grinned.
“I can do 1000 laps and I don’t think I can beat that lap. It was unbelievable.”
Perez said he didn’t expect to be able to beat the Ferraris in qualifying, making his first pole even more…
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