For the second year in a row, Sergio Perez repeated his achievement of taking pole for the Saudi Arabia - after a shock driveshaft failure sidelined his Red Bull team mate Max Verstappen, who had headed all three practice sessions.
Charles Leclerc pipped Fernando Alonso to the runners-up spot but the Ferrari will start ten places further down due to a penalty for taking new engine components, promoting the Aston Martin back to the front row for Sunday's race.
Mercedes' George Russell and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz were best of the rest, while Lando Norris and Logan Sargeant missed the cut at the end of Q1 after glancing the barriers and damaged their cars.
The sun had set over Jeddah and the floodlights had taken control of the nighttime, as the 20 cars and drivers prepared to head out on track for the second qualifying session of the 2023 world championship season. After Max Verstappen had completed a clean sweep of free practice sessions, the burning question of the night was: could anyone or anything stop Red Bull romping to pole? The answer was no ... and yes.
Q1: Red Bull rule, Norris and Sargeant out after hitting the wall
There was a big queue led by the two Williams drivers keen to get straight down to business. Logan Sargeant took first honours with his time of 1:29.721s, almost half a second quicker than his more experienced team mate Alexander Albon. Meanwhile AlphaTauri rookie Nyck de Vries - who had been forced to sit out FP3 due to a power unit change - aborted his initial flying lap after losing the back of the AT04 and spinning in turn 1, flat-spotting his first set of the soft compound tyres.
Sargeant's time had been subsequently deleted for exceeding track limits at turn 27, allowing Haas' Nico Hulkenberg to briefly go top in his place - that is, before first Sergio Perez and then Max Verstappen reasserted Red Bull supremacy. Behind Hulkenberg and his team mate Kevin Magnussen, George Russell slotted into fifth for Mercedes ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, with Alfa Romeo sophomore Zhou Guanyu moving up to seventh ahead of Australian rookie Oscar Piastri.
Piastri's McLaren team mate Lando Norris was forced to abort his lap after glancing the wall with the front left wheel and damaging the steering of the MCL60. He wasn't alone in suffering problems, with Fernando Alonso also spinning but he was able to regroup, and went on to move up to fourth behind an improved effort from Leclerc. Alonso's Aston Martin team mate Lance Stroll was also unexpectedly struggling, his first lap of the night on soft tyres only good enough for 14th although his follow up put him up into tenth.
There was a brief yellow flag in the final corner for Sargeant losing the rear of the Williams and spinning, leaving him without a time for Q1. He attempted to head out and make another run but he overshot turn 1 and hit the wall, forcing him to stop in sector 1. It means the American will have to throw himself on the mercy of the race stewards to be allowed to take up a position on the last row of the grid.
Sargeant's team mate Albon also missed the cut, as did AlphaTauri pairing Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries. Lando Norris was also out of the running, the McLaren squad having been unable to fix the damage to his front suspension and steering in time to get him back out for another run.
The two Red Bulls had seen no need to head back again, but a final flurry of flying laps saw Alonso and Stroll finish as best of the rest ahead of Leclerc and his Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz. Hulkenberg was seventh followed by Russell, Zhou and Hamilton. Looking at risk of missing the cut in the next round were Piastri, Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas, all of whom would need to pick up the pace if they were to make it into the final top ten pole shoot-out.
Q2: Verstappen suffers mechanical failure as Alonso goes top of the times
The drivers were soon back in business when the lights went green at the end of pit lane to signal the start of the second round. Everyone was quick to head out, with Perez the only driver to hang back and wait for a quieter moment to make his move.
Fernando Alonso took early command with a time of 1:28.757s, half a second clear of Stroll. Leclerc then slotted in between the two Astons, with Ocon claiming fourth for Alpine ahead of the Mercedes cars of Russell and Hamilton. Also currently safely in the top ten were Piastri, Sainz and Bottas. But there was a conspicuous absence in that roll call, with no sign yet of the Red Bulls. Surely there wasn't a problem?
There was. Verstappen was crawling around, the RB19 having suffered an apparent driveshaft mechanical failure leaving the dismayed Red Bull mechanics watching from pit lane as their man was told to 'limp home if possible'. There was no chance of repairing the car in time to get Verstappen back out on track in Q2, so that was it for the reigning world champion today leaving him P15 in the qualifying classification. At least Perez had eventually shown up for his delayed run and had gone quick enough for second place, although he was 0.117s slower than Alonso whose initial effort was looking better by the minute.
After absorbing the shock of Verstappen's exit, everyone was back in action for one last push with Russell soon moving up to fourth ahead of Stroll, Hamilton and Ocon. At risk of joining Verstappen on the bench were Sainz, Zhou, Bottas and Hulkenberg. All had time to make one last bid to get into Q3 and duly made improvements, but when the dust and sand settled it was AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly who had managed to squeeze through on the bubble while only Sainz had successfully jumped to safety, his spot on the sidelines having been taken by Magnussen.
Q3: Perez saves the day for Red Bull with second consecutive Jeddah pole
With a vacancy having opened up at the top, Alonso and the rest of the field were straight out to apply for the position. He put everything into his run, wrestling with the wheel as the Aston protested about what it was being forced to do. His time of 1:28.925s wasn't quick enough to prevent Leclerc taking provisional pole by 0.168s, and Russell also slotted in ahead of the Aston to make an early claim for a front row spot alongside the Ferrari.
While Red Bull might have been wounded by Verstappen's exit, they were by no means down and out. Perez picked up the team colours and put in a Max-like lap to clock in with a time of 1:28.265s, 0.492s quicker than Leclerc and just fractions slower than his Q3 time last year that had earned him pole.
After briefly regrouping on pit lane, it was time for the ten remaining cars to go again, but it was a bad start for Sainz who thundered through turn 1 at the start of his flying lap only to find Russell emerging from pit lane right at the apex, ruining his chances. Alonso was unable to improve, while Stroll looked to be on a scorcher only to have a scare in turn 10 that cost him the time he needed to improve.
No one was capable of knocking Perez off the top spot. Leclerc remained ahead of Alonso, but it was a Pyrrhic victory as the Monegasque has to serve a ten place grid penalty tomorrow for taking an additional electronic control unit before the weekend, meaning he will drop to P12 on the grid and promote Alonso onto the front row alongside Perez as a result.
Russell will start Sunday's race from third alongside Sainz, with Stroll fifth next to Ocon followed by Hamilton, Piastri, Gasly and Hulkenberg rounding out the top ten. The big question now is how long it will take Verstappen to charge back to the front from P15 when the lights go out on Sunday.
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