Verstappen starts in the backfield of GP Jeddah after engine problem in qualifying | GP Saudi Arabia

Mar 18, 2023 at 6:41 PMUpdate: 2 minutes ago

Max Verstappen was hit by engine problems during qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Saturday. The Dutchman got out in the second part of the session at the Jeddah circuit after having to abort a fast lap. He did come back to the pits, but the problems were not solved there.

Verstappen was the clear favorite for pole position, but there were already some doubts about the reliability of both the Honda engine and the Red Bull gearbox. Verstappen received a new gearbox on Saturday morning, while the necessary engine parts were changed at teammate Sergio Pérez. The problem now seemed to be in one of the two drive shafts.

There were also problems with sister team AlphaTauri. Nyck De Vries lost a lot of time due to an engine change, so he had to watch the entire third free practice.

That was detrimental to the Dutchman, who is taking action for the first time on the difficult circuit in Jeddah. Qualifying also started far from ideal, with a spin in his first attempt. De Vries recovered from that, but in the end he couldn’t put together a lap that was good enough to go through to the next part of qualifying. He will start eighteenth on Sunday.

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix starts at 6 p.m. on Sunday.

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