Although he changed the gearbox before the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia, it was he who "betrayed" Max Verstappen - the current Formula 1 champion did not set a time in the second part of qualifying due to transmission problems, so he will only start from 15th place.
In Red Bull, however, there was celebration, because Sergio Peres was the fastest, ahead of Charles Leclerc in Ferrari and Fernando Alonso in Aston Martin.
Alonso will, however, start from the first row, and Leclerc from 12th place, because he was penalized for changing the gearbox.
"I'm both happy and not. We had a lot of problems with the rhythm, but in the last lap I gave everything and I'm satisfied. But Red Bull is from another planet. It won't be easy for me, because of the penalty of moving back 10 places," said Leclerc.
Verstappen didn't despair either, but he wasn't overjoyed.
"There was a problem in the tenth corner, that's when I first saw something happening. This annoys me a lot. We had a great weekend, everything went according to plan. Now everything is changing, it will be difficult to reach the top. Anything is possible on this track, but we have to be realistic. However, we have a fast car, I will definitely improve", the Flying Dutchman was honest.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner is optimistic.
"We will see how Verstappen races tomorrow. We have an excellent car, speed on the start-finish line and we will see what we can do".
It doesn't matter to Peres either that he doesn't have a teammate.
"The third part of the qualification was demanding. It's a pity for Max, he was very powerful all weekend, but with these cars you know that problems can always happen".
The Jeddah race takes place tomorrow at 18 p.m.
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