Sergio Perez, after his pole in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: “A difficult Q3”

Sergio Perez (Red Bull, 1st in qualifying in Jeddah) : “It was a difficult Q3, especially when I couldn’t finish my second flying lap. Q1 was really good. When you get a good lap, you really feel the car come to life. It’s a shame for Max (Verstappen) because he was very solid all weekend. I hope that the two single-seaters can finish in front. You never know with the reliability issues of these cars, they can hit you at any time. »

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari, 2nd in qualifying but 12th on the grid) “If I’m happy? Yes and no. On the one hand, it’s been a tough week for us. I’m very happy with my lap in Q3. I think everything fell into place, I was really on the edge. The Red Bulls are on another planet. We are struggling a bit but we have to keep pushing. Starting with a 10-place penalty won’t be easy, but we’ll do our best to come back. The pace of the race seemed very good to me. It’s hard to compare with free practice, but I feel like it was better. I think everyone is very close in terms of pace. »

Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin, 3rd in qualifying but 2nd on the grid) “It’s been a very good weekend for us so far. Qualifying was our weakness in Bahrain, but here we performed really well on one lap. We will see on Sunday what we can do with the penalty from Charles (Leclerc). So we will be on the front line. We are confident. The strong point of our car is the long runs and tire management. We are better on Sunday than on Saturday. »

Max Verstappen (Red Bull, 15th in qualifying) : “It happened at the exit of turn 10. It’s boring. So far we’ve had a great weekend, with every session going really well. It will be a little more difficult to go back in front. I would have liked to start higher, but there is nothing we can do about it. Everything is possible on this track. But you have to be realistic. It will be tough, but we have good pace so obviously we will overtake. »