Formula 1 has touched down in Saudi Arabia for the second race of the year. Sergio Perez is on pole position, with Fernando Alonso in second place. Due to problems in qualifying, Max Verstappen starts from 15th place.
LIVE | F1 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix 2023
The first four places on the grid are taken by drivers from four different teams and no fewer than seven different teams have a driver in the top ten. Perez secured pole position by being one-and-a-half tenths of a second faster than Charles Leclerc. However, due to a grid penalty, the Monegasque will start from 12th place, pushing Alonso through to second. Max Verstappen is condemned to a catch-up race from spot 15 due to a problem with his driveshaft.
With George Russell in third and Carlos Sainz in fourth, it promises to be an exciting battle for the win between the four different teams, at least in the opening stages. Just behind, Lance Stroll will try to prove he can keep up just fine with his experienced teammate.
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McLaren and Alpine in the midfield
McLaren and Alpine seem to have found their form from last year. In Bahrain, both teams struggled to keep up and Pierre Gasly was the only one of the drivers to actually score points. Now both Alpine drivers are inside the top ten with Esteban Ocon even ahead of Lewis Hamilton, and Oscar Piastri is in eighth place for McLaren. Nico Hulkenberg will try to score his first points for Haas from tenth spot. The German was comfortable in Bahrain in qualifying, but dropped back during the race due to car problems.
Lando Norris starts from the back row as he suffered irreparable damage to his car in qualifying. Next to him starts Logan Sargeant, whose fastest time in qualifying was dashed out due to track limits. Nyck de Vries will start ahead of them both from 18th place.