Red Bull entered this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix under tremendous pressure after the kind of disastrous weekend they had in Bahrain last week. The best Max Verstappen could manage in Sakhir was a P6 finish while his teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished in P9.
Although Red Bull kickstarted the Saudi Arabian GP this week on a much better note, with team advisor Helmut Marko labeling their performance on Friday as the best of this season, no one expected them to grab pole. But Verstappen did, as he so often has done for Red Bull.
The Dutchman produced a stunning lap to grab P1 and in the process also broke the lap record around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, which was first broken by Mercedes’ George Russell, who grabbed provisional pole. The Briton registered a 1.27.472.
His lap time was then beaten by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who registered a 1.27.394 in his final effort to grab provisional pole. However, even that was not enough, as Verstappen beat it by just 0.010 seconds to register his 42nd pole position. Soon after, he was spotted donning an exquisite Tag Heuer Carrera watch.
Max Verstappen celebrates his #SaudiArabianGP pole position donning a Gold-Black Tag Heuer Carrera. pic.twitter.com/Vux5wXcpgK
— Anirban Aly Mandal (@AnirbanF1) April 19, 2025
This watch, which is from the Swiss company’s heritage line, is sold in retail at a staggering price of $22,400. The 27-year-old’s watch was the Gold edition of the timepiece, which sports black leather straps and the iconic ‘Panda’ design with a gold and black dial. The watch also comes with an 18K 3N yellow-gold pin buckle matching the dial and case.
It was paramount for Verstappen to clinch pole vidito get himself back in contention for the championship. With just eight points separating him and championship leader Lando Norris — who will start the Saudi Arabian GP from P10 — the Dutchman has a brilliant chance of taking the lead in the standings if he were to convert his pole position into a win.
What will help Verstappen’s chances is that the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is not the easiest track to overtake at. Since the inaugural Saudi Arabian GP in 2021, the average passing rate has been decreasing year by year. However, it is not to say that Verstappen will have it easy by any means.
Since the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is a street track with several high-speed corners and the walls in close proximity, there is usually a high chance of both safety cars and red flags. This means that even if Verstappen were to build a substantial lead, it could easily be erased if any of these interruptions take place.
