Exciting Qualifying nets P3 and P5 in Jeddah

The team focused on its single lap tyre warm-up strategy in FP3; with a 50°C track temperature the session was not entirely representative but provided useful learnings for Qualifying in the cooler evening conditions.

Both drivers progressed serenely through to Q3, with the field at the front looking incredibly close between several cars including ourselves, the McLarens and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

As both drivers were on their first efforts in Q3, the red flags flew with the McLaren of Lando Norris in the wall at turn five.

That left both drivers with one new set of Soft tyres and one effort to set their positions on the grid.

George came within 0.110s of pole position to take P3. Kimi meanwhile had a moment in sector one which cost him a couple of tenths; that left him a still strong P5 for tomorrow’s race.

George Russell

P3 is a great result for us this evening. If you had offered us third before the session, I think we would have taken it. Seeing how tight the field was at the end of Q3 though, you do begin to think about where we might have found that extra tenth to claim pole. Nevertheless, we should be pleased. It was a tough session with the red flag taking away our first lap. The only thing that mattered then was that final effort and I think we did a good job to deliver a solid starting position for tomorrow.

It is going to be a long race so we should be able to put our race pace to use. We looked competitive on Friday, even if Piastri in the McLaren looks to have an edge on the rest of the field and will be difficult to race. P3 gives us a chance to fight for the podium again and hopefully we can get on there for our fourth top three finish in the first five races of 2025.

Kimi Antonelli

That was a very intense Qualifying! The session as a whole went well, and I continued to build my speed. I had a big snap on my first lap in Q1 and had to burn a second set of new tyres to get through to Q2. That wasn’t ideal but we still made it through to Q3 and, with the red flag, it all came down to the final effort anyway. I need to rewatch my lap to see exactly what happened, but I had a moment in the first sector that cost me a few tenths. That was a shame as the rest of the lap was strong and I think we could have taken P4.

I’m feeling more and more confident each and every weekend. This track is such a big test as you need lots of confidence and to get really close to the walls through the high-speed corners. Step-by-step, and the more experience I’m getting, I feel like I’m starting to put it all together with more consistency. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though and see what we can do tomorrow. It will be a long race and hopefully we can bring home some solid points for the team.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

That was an exciting Qualifying session, even if we ended up on the wrong end of the top three. There was very little between ourselves, the McLarens and the Red Bull of Verstappen in the end. You would always want to be starting from pole position, but we didn’t expect to be in the fight for P1 after FP3. George did a great job therefore to put the car in the mix and he will be looking forward tomorrow.

Kimi meanwhile once again put in a strong performance despite it being so early in his F1 career. He made a small mistake in the first sector which cost him a couple of tenths. Without that, he would likely have been P4, but P5 is still a great starting position.

The car seems to be provided a stable platform for us to work with. Over the first five races, we’ve been consistently in the fight for the podium and hopefully we can keep that going in tomorrow’s race. The McLarens looked to have very strong long run pace on Friday, so we think it will be difficult to fight Piastri for the win. Let’s see what happens though and, as always, we will be giving it our all.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

We had a decent final practice session, and the car was working well. Like Bahrain though, it looked like McLaren would be totally out of reach in Qualifying. In the cooler conditions later in the evening though, the W16 car was working much better than in FP2 yesterday. That was a pleasing development and meant we were able to stay close to the front. With Kimi, we used a second set of Soft tyres to get through Q1. As it turns out, he'd have just made it through with his first lap, but we rightly didn’t risk that. From there on it was straightforward to get both into Q3, George with two new sets and Kimi down to one.

The timing of Norris’s red flag wasn't ideal as it came out just before both our drivers would have completed their first laps. That meant it all came down to the final efforts at the end of the session. Neither lap was perfect, with both drivers quite rightly making sure we got the laps in to put a time on the board. Kimi had a poor first sequence but finished strong and we're pleased to see him secure P5 on the grid. George was looking close to the times Verstappen and Piastri set but lost a little in the final corner to put him P3. Overall, we're left with a sense we could have achieved a bit more but in many ways it's a healthy sense of frustration. We've improved a long way since last year and we'll keep pushing. The points are all to play for tomorrow and there should be plenty of opportunity as it's rarely a dull race here in Jeddah.

FP3 Result

Qualifying Result