BBC F1 pundit tips 26-y/o to ‘bury’ his teammate ‘again’ in Saudi Arabian GP qualifying

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BBC F1 pundit Jack Aitken has backed Max Verstappen to ‘bury’ Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, ‘again’ in qualifying for the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP this Friday evening.

Just 0.142 seconds split the Red Bull drivers in FP2 on Thursday as Verstappen only posted the third-fastest time. Instead, Fernando Alonso set the pace at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit for Aston Martin with a 1:28.827. Perez finished the day with the fifth-best time at 1:29.300.

Mercedes ace George Russell (1:29.057) and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari (1:29.180) ended the day on either side of Verstappen’s 1:29.158 time. The 26-year-old only improved on his FP1 pace-setting 1:29.659 lap by half a second. Alonso found over one second on his 1:29.845.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez can secure three Saudi Arabian GP poles in a row

Verstappen struggled to double-up on topping FP1 as the Dutchman bemoaned that his Red Bull’s front end ‘wants to wash out’ during his qualifying simulation. But the reigning three-time drivers’ champion showed the RB20 should be the strongest car in this Saturday’s race.

Perez also put their RB20 through its paces in his race sim as the 34-year-old chases back-to-back Saudi Arabian GP wins. The Mexican took pole position with a 1:28.265 lap in 2023 and converted. Verstappen finished in P2 from P15 on the grid after mechanical issues in Q2.

Verstappen had set the pace in FP1, FP2, FP3 and Q1 at the Saudi Arabian GP in 2023 before his Red Bull RB19 hit problems in Q2. The Dutchman’s plight also allowed Perez to get back-to-back pole positions in Jeddah. The Mexican had sealed his first career pole in F1 in 2022.

Jack Aitken tips Max Verstappen to ‘bury’ Sergio Perez ‘again’ in qualifying

Yet while Verstappen started the 2022 Saudi Arabian GP in P4, he still won the race as Perez finished in fourth. Former Williams F1 reserve driver, Aitken, also still fears what Verstappen would have achieved during qualifying in 2021 without touching the wall at the final corner.

“That’s the champion mindset,” Aitken said on the BBC’s Chequered Flag podcast. “Perez hasn’t actually beaten him on merit so far, I think it’s fair to say, at this track.

“So, while the statistics are very much in his favour… We were on board with Max’s lap for much of the qualifying before he hit that wall a couple of years ago. And it was a sensational lap. It was one of the best on-board laps in qualifying that I’ve seen in a really long time.

“So, it’s a bit scary to think what he could have done if he had finished the lap. I don’t see any reason why he can’t come here and, you know, bury Perez again, really.

“I would love to see more competition. Certainly, in the first practice session, Checo was in the ballpark. But as we’ve seen, as the weekend goes on, that’s where he tends to fall back. So, that’s where he’s going to have to find something this weekend.”