Fernando Alonso starts from second position in Saudi Arabia Grand Prixjust behind Sergio Pérez, who showed Red Bull’s dominance after the doubts raised when two-time champion Max Verstappen’s car said enough before the Dutchman could even set a time in the second quarter.

Asturian pilot was one step away from pole, so it will be the first time the almighty Red Bull has competed for victory. For his part, Carlos Sainz will start from fifth place.

Alonsomania This is more than a sensation. The state of mind that attracted Spaniards to television on Sunday after Sunday 18 years ago is back and the Aston Martin project is confirmed as the great discovery of Formula 1. Lance Stroll, Fernando’s teammate, starts from sixth position, bolstering the performance of green cars in Bahrain.

The chances of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz rose sharply in the second quarter as with Verstappen absent due to reliability issues and Leclerc with an expected penalty of 10 positions, Pérez’s time seemed achievable; However, the Mexican showed once again that he is much more than a great champion’s squire and signed his second consecutive pole position in Saudi Arabia, with Leclerc less than two-tenths behind and Alonso almost half a second behind.

Before the start of the Grand Prix, experts including Pedro de la Rosa, Aston Martin ambassador and former Formula 1 driver, slipped that a priori it was not a weekend when the formation was in their favor, as it was in the first race in Bahrain. Regardless, both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll showed during training and qualifying that they were there and that if something weighed down Red Bull, apparently in another world, they could dream.

With Verstappen out of contention and Leclerc in twelfth place, Fernando Alonso will be Perez’s main hurdle on his way to a podium finish. The layout in Jeddah is characterized by high speed cornering surrounded by a maze of walls, where any mistake leads to a crash that is highly likely irreversible and forces the safety car onto the track, opening up a scenario that changes the entire race.