F1: Can Verstappen win Saudi Arabian GP from 15th on Sunday?

–by Mark Cipolloni–

He’s done it from 14th at Spa last year.  Can Max Verstappen win from 15th on the streets of Jeddah in Sunday’s Saudi Arabian GP?

Verstappen dominated every practice session and Q1 in qualifying.  His gap to everyone else was large.  Even on hard tires, his competitors could not match his times, despite being on the soft Pirellis.

Such was his superiority.

Then in Q2 his half shaft broke and he was out.  As a result he will start 15th on Sunday.

Verstappen said “anything is possible” from 15th place on the grid for Formula 1’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after being hit by a driveshaft issue in qualifying.

“It was the first time I heard about that [issue]. Coming out of Turn 10 it happens, which is very annoying for it to happen,” he told Sky Sports F1.

“I think we so far had a really good weekend, every session was going really well and every time we went on track the car was working really well.

“So now it’s a little bit more tricky to get to the front, but it’s all about scoring points.

“It’s a very long season, of course, I would have hoped to start a bit further up the road, but we cannot change that now.”

When asked if he can still challenge for the win from 15th Verstappen said it was tough but possible, preferring to stay realistic.

Max Verstappen admits it will be ‘tricky’ to fight for the win from 15th on the grid, after problems with his Red Bull ended his qualifying session early 👇 pic.twitter.com/pbAkbaUU0r

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 18, 2023

“Anything is possible at this track. We’ve seen a lot of crazy things, but also we have to stay a little bit realistic,” he thought.

“It’s going to be tough, but we have good pace, so for sure we’ll move forward.”

He will be moving through the field behind the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc who starts 12th.

It will be exciting to watch.

Starting Lineup (After Grid Penalties)