The lap times after qualifying made grim reading for Aston Martin at the home round for their title sponsor.
Once practice and qualifying were completed, every car had lapped the Jeddah Corniche Circuit faster than its predecessor had managed with a single exception: the AMR25s of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.Teams’ performance
There was almost nothing to choose between the two quickest teams over a single lap. Red Bull claimed their fourth consecutive pole position in Jeddah by a hundredth of a second from McLaren.
Aston Martin weren’t slowest in qualifying – Alonso got them into Q2. But they have fallen from third-quickest team to eighth at this track in little more than a year.
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As Formula 1’s official tyre supplier has brought softer tyres for this weekend’s race, the lap times should fall compared to last year. However some of that was cancelled out by the hotter track temperatures, as this round is taking place later in the season.
Nonetheless, some teams posted significant improvements, particularly those which were less competitive at this stage last year. Even Red Bull and Ferrari have picked up a tenth of a second.Aston Martin, however, are four tenths of a second slower. Alonso said he doubted there was much more performance left in the car after qualifying and his sector times (below) bear that out.
True, had Alonso reached Q3 he could have benefited from better track conditions and lapped quicker. But this also applies to other teams which failed to reach the final stage of qualifying, yet still posted better lap times than they did in 2024.
Field performance
The track record fell for the second year in a row in Jeddah. What’s more, it was beaten by no fewer than three different cars: Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, Oscar Piastri’s McLaren and George Russell’s Mercedes.
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Sector times
It was incredibly close at the top – and it could have been even closer. Had Verstappen and Piastri combined their best sector times on a single lap, the gap between them would have been just six thousandths of a second. Russell, too, could have got even closer.
| P. | # | Driver | S1 | S2 | S3 | Ultimate lap (deficit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | 31.507 (1) | 27.714 (5) | 28.016 (2) | 1’27.237 (+0.057) |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | 31.630 (2) | 27.624 (2) | 27.989 (1) | 1’27.243 (+0.061) |
| 3 | 63 | George Russell | 31.684 (3) | 27.550 (1) | 28.101 (7) | 1’27.335 (+0.072) |
| 4 | 4 | Lando Norris | 31.745 (4) | 27.684 (4) | 28.052 (5) | 1’27.481 |
| 5 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 31.920 (8) | 27.682 (3) | 28.020 (4) | 1’27.622 (+0.176) |
| 6 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | 31.857 (5) | 27.753 (6) | 28.017 (3) | 1’27.627 (+0.043) |
| 7 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | 31.918 (7) | 27.830 (11) | 28.192 (9) | 1’27.940 (+0.050) |
| 8 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | 31.972 (9) | 27.833 (12) | 28.193 (10) | 1’27.998 (+0.104) |
| 9 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 32.047 (11) | 27.822 (10) | 28.140 (8) | 1’28.009 (+0.015) |
| 10 | 23 | Alexander Albon | 31.901 (6) | 27.806 (7) | 28.309 (13) | 1’28.016 (+0.093) |
| 11 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | 32.136 (14) | 27.816 (8) | 28.073 (6) | 1’28.025 |
| 12 | 30 | Liam Lawson | 32.087 (13) | 27.890 (15) | 28.214 (11) | 1’28.191 |
| 13 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | 32.021 (10) | 27.852 (13) | 28.430 (18) | 1’28.303 |
| 14 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | 32.209 (15) | 27.885 (14) | 28.322 (14) | 1’28.416 (+0.002) |
| 15 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | 32.489 (18) | 27.817 (9) | 28.218 (12) | 1’28.524 (+0.012) |
| 16 | 18 | Lance Stroll | 32.072 (12) | 28.054 (18) | 28.478 (20) | 1’28.604 (+0.041) |
| 17 | 7 | Jack Doohan | 32.223 (16) | 28.097 (19) | 28.373 (17) | 1’28.693 (+0.046) |
| 18 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | 32.477 (17) | 27.968 (16) | 28.323 (15) | 1’28.768 (+0.014) |
| 19 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | 32.718 (20) | 28.042 (17) | 28.332 (16) | 1’29.092 |
| 20 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | 32.653 (19) | 28.129 (20) | 28.455 (19) | 1’29.237 (+0.225) |
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2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
- Red Bull made tactical decision not to avoid a penalty in Jeddah, Horner confirms
- Norris’s starts were far poorer than Verstappen’s but the balance is shifting
- McLaren’s rivals “just one upgrade away from being the lead car” – Brown
- Russell told race control what he thought of Verstappen’s first lap corner cut
- Doohan’s final corner pass on Bortoleto was F1’s closest fight for last place in seven years
David
19th April 2025, 23:42
Can’t help but feel that Aston’s issue is now a driver issue. Lance’s heart isn’t in it any more and he really should retire (more Q1 exits than any other driver is an embarrassing record to hold). Alonso’s commitment is as strong as ever but he’s deep into his forties now and will be losing performance with every passing month.
They’ve been weak on the technical side for a while but one or both of the drivers needs to go. Although I doubt the line up will change in 2026.
Leeroy
20th April 2025, 2:31
Agree, Astons loss of pace is mostly due to the drivers. Alonso has fallen off the age cliff and we all know Lance is only there because his surname is Stroll.
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
20th April 2025, 8:48
People have been saying this about Alonso since 2017, yet when he got his hands on a competitive car in 2023 he was still right up there and sharp enough to be fighting with the best of them and putting manners on a lot of these younger drivers. I’m sure he has lost a little from his prime, but he’s still one of the most consistent drivers out there. If the 2026 Aston is competitive, he’ll be up there at the front again and these comments will disappear.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
20th April 2025, 8:53
Alonso’s great but it’s hard to judge how good he still is when there’s a wooden puppet driving the other car. Stroll needs to call it quits and go to Le Mans, have a career there while he’s sitll young. He could be good there.
El Pollo Loco
20th April 2025, 18:57
It’s not hard to tell. Alonso is maybe the most consistent driver in history. So, while he’s not at his peak, he’s still easily fast enough you know if the car is good or not. You don’t go from best of the rest last season and P4 in the WDC the year before that to slow and inconsistent let alone slow enough you don’t know if the car is any good. And while Stroll is generally a bum. He’s scored a pole and podiums. So, it’s not like he’s so slow you just can’t tell.
El Pollo Loco
20th April 2025, 15:06
This is incredibly silly. Alonso scored 10 podiums 1.5 years ago and was 9th in the WDC last season with often the 9th best car and scored 80.3% of the team’s points. But, OK, he’s suddenly slow. The car is clearly garbage. Alonso is up 5-0 in quali and has often been a second faster than Stroll.
Alonso would be leading the WDC in the McLaren.
BLS (@brightlampshade)
20th April 2025, 6:46
It’s shocking that Stroll will almost have 200 GPs to his name by the end of the season. He’ll be in the top 30 of all time…..
Todfod (@todfod)
20th April 2025, 8:58
He’ll go down in history as the most rubbish driver to cross 200 races. Along with the driver with 200 plus races and the worst avg. qualifying position… with largest deficit to team mate over 200 races and so on.
There needs to be a certain point in time where he realises everything is downhill for him and leaving the sport would put him, the fans and the sport out of its misery.