Checo Pérez achieved pole position in the Saudi Arabian GP for the second consecutive year

REUTERS/Rula Rohana

The qualifying session for the 2023 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was held and with it the starting order for the second race of the season was defined. Sergio Pérez obtained pole position by setting the best time of the session with 1: 28.265 on the stopwatch, the second of his career and likewise, the second achieved on the Jeddah track (2022).

Sergio Pérez, Red Bull.Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (10 position ban for the race).Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin.George Russell, Mercedes.Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari.Lance Stroll, Aston Martin.Esteban Ocon, Alpine.Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes.Oscar Piastri, McLaren.Pierre Gasly, Alpine.

The rest of the grid is completed by Nico Hülkenberg in eleventh position and is followed by Guanyu Zhou, Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas, Max Verstappen, Yuki Tsunoda, Alexander Albon, Nyck de Vries, Lando Norris, Logan Sargeant.

REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Sergio Pérez’s objective is to win the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and for this he is aware that beating his teammate Max Verstappen is a challenge that he must overcome. The second date of the calendar brings with it the possibility of seeing the fifth victory of the Mexican in Formula 1 due to the misfortune of his teammate who was relegated to the fifteenth position during the classification.

It may interest you: Checo Pérez aimed to beat Verstappen in the Saudi Arabian GP: “We are in very tight margins”

And it is that, although the Dutchman and current two-time world champion seems to maintain superiority over Checo -and over anyone on the grid- there is no driver who is shaping up to overshadow him on the Jeddah circuit more than Pérez himself, who at first , has the same car to compete.

“That is my objective (…) to try to win the race. It’s important, it’s only the second weekend of the race. We are in very tight margins. Bahrain was very tight. I look forward to it”, declared the Mexican during a press conference prior to the start of activities on the track.

Race: Sunday, March 19 at 11:00 a.m., Central Mexico time. REUTERS/Luca Bruno

For Checo Pérez, running in Saudi Arabia will represent the opportunity to get on the podium for the first time since the Grand Prix took place (2021). It is a goal that he has only come close to with fourth place obtained in 2022, while in 2021 his result was the worst possible having to abandon the race due to a collision.

It may interest you: Checo Pérez will look for his first podium in Saudi Arabia, a historic Grand Prix for the Mexican

Now, in his third year as a member of the Austrian team and his thirteenth as a driver in the highest category of motorsport, the outlook looks promising for the Mexican. Jeddah is a circuit with urban characteristics, with narrow track limits and little space for passing, however, the Mexican has shown that these are conditions in which he feels comfortable.

Saudi Arabian GP 2022: Retirement with Red Bull.

It may interest you: How Checo Pérez’s relationship with Verstappen improved

Saudi Arabian GP 2021: Fifth position with Red Bull.

---

Source

---