Perez takes pole after Verstappen loses power: 2023 Saudi Arabain GP qualifying

But his march was halted in Q2 when he lost drive on a flying lap, limped back to the pits and immediately got out of the car. The team confirmed a driveshaft failure.

“It’s very annoying,” said Verstappen. “So far we had a really good weekend. It will now be a bit more tricky to get to the front but it is all about scoring points.”

Asked if a win was in his sights, he replied: “Anything is possible at this track. We have good pace so for sure we will move forwards.”

By that time, Lando Norris was also out: eliminated in Q1 after hitting the wall. Although he brought his car back to the pits, it proved terminal for his session. Only Logan Sargeant will start behind him having had a disastrous session, which began with his first lap being deleted for putting a wheel off-track in the area between the main straight and pitlane.

The Williams driver then spun his car but had time for a final flying lap, at which point a car failure brought him to a halt. His team-mate Alex Albon and both AlphaTauri drivers joined him in the drop zone.

All four Alfa Romeo and Haas cars were eliminated alongside Verstappen in Q2, which left Perez fighting the pacy Aston Martins and Ferraris.

Oscar Piastri had also driven his McLaren into Q3, as did the Alpine and Mercedes drivers.

Perez topped the table after the first runs, but his time appeared far from secure as Alonso’s second flying lap took him to within a tenth of the Red Bull over the opening corners. Anticipation was high, but the double world champion couldn’t sustain the challenge and slotted in just under half a second behind Perez.

His team-mate looked to be on an even quicker charge: Lance Stroll setting the fastest first sector of all as he looked to challenge for pole, but once again he couldn’t match Perez’s pace towards the end of the lap and ended sixth quickest.

Leclerc couldn’t topple the Mexican either. He was the closest challenger, but was of no concern to Red Bull thanks to his grid penalty, and finished 0.155sec back, handing Perez his second successive Saudi Arabian pole.

An exuberant Russell ended the session fourth fastest — “They were some nice laps. I really enjoyed that,” radioed the Mercedes driver after the chequered flag. He didn’t hold out much hope of taking points from Verstappen though, pointing out that the Dutchman had already won from 14th on the grid last year at Spa — and that this year’s car had an even greater advantage over its rivals.

Perez echoed both thoughts: “You really feel the Formula 1 cars coming alive in this place,” he said in post-qualifying interviews. “Hopefully tomorrow we can have both cars up there.”

2023 Saudi Arabian  Grand Prix qualifying results

*Takes 10th-place grid penalty into account