Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen claimed his second pole position of the season, with teammate Yuki Tsunoda qualifying P8 ahead of tomorrow's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
For the second weekend in a row, Red Bull saw both drivers reach Q3 and put themselves in a strong position to claim valuable points in tomorrow's feature race.
The Red Bull pair set promising initial laps in Q1. Verstappen was 0.129 seconds behind Oscar Piastri in P3, and Tsunoda was 0.405 seconds behind in P5 before drivers went out for their second runs.
Verstappen's second run in Q1 put him atop the time sheet, 0.027 seconds above Norris, with Tsunoda going through safely in P5, 0.448 seconds behind his teammate.
Q2 started well again, with Verstappen putting his car P1 on his first run, pipping McLaren's Oscar Piastri by 0.161 seconds. Tsunoda's first lap had him 0.636 seconds behind Verstappen in P6, with Lando Norris taking top spot by 0.048 seconds moments later.
Verstappen held P2, with no other driver improving on his time, while Tsunoda improved his earlier lap to go through to Q3 in P7, 0.509 seconds behind Norris.
Q3 started and stopped quickly after Norris' crash into the wall brought out a red flag before anyone other than his teammate, Piastri, set a time.
Upon the restart, Verstappen went out first and managed to beat Piastri's initial time by 0.001 seconds. Mercedes' George Russell then leapfrogged the pair of them on his final lap, by one tenth, before Piastri regained pole position.
Verstappen, however, was still out on a final timed lap when Piastri crossed the line, and the four-time World Champion edged ahead by 0.010 seconds to claim his second pole position of the season.
In the process, the Dutchman claimed the record for the fastest lap at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit by 0.178 seconds
Speaking after qualifying, Verstappen said: "Very happy! I definitely didn't expect to be on pole here."
"The car came alive in the night, we made some final changes and it was more enjoyable to drive, the grip was coming to me."
He added: "I think tomorrow in the race, it will be tough to keep them behind, but we'll give it a good go."
Tsunoda, meanwhile, brought it home in P8 in another strong qualifying session for the Japanese driver as he continues to get to grips with the RB21 after his recent promotion from Racing Bulls.
