Perez gets his reward: 'He works harder than ever'

On the cusp of eleven years since his debut in Formula 1, Sergio Perez starts from pole position today for the first time in his career. The Mexican trumped everyone - including his teammate Max Verstappen - and could then celebrate a small party.

Other side

At Red Bull, it's usually Verstappen's side of the garage that has something to celebrate. In Jeddah, it was the turn of Perez's men. Team boss Christian Horner let it be known in a Red Bull press release that he was very happy for the Mexican. "He’s working harder than ever and that lap was fantastic", Horner said. "The Ferraris put down such a competitive marker and for Checo to put in a lap like that at this circuit was unbelievable."

Verstappen will start from the second row of the grid. Horner also noted that the world champion struggled with grip in Q3 and therefore could not attack the corners as he would like. "But from fourth place he is still in contenion", he said.

Pointless

Red Bull could no doubt use a good result in Saudi Arabia. During the first race both cars retired, so the team is still on zero points. The race starts at 6 pm UK time.