Picture Credit: X
57 laps at a spine-twisting, high speed circuit with there being plenty of chances of overtaking and all the racing saga under the bright lights of Jeddah; the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is here yet again with plenty of action up its sleeve with all of it about to unfold in the next few hours.
Max Verstappen has already made his intentions clear at round five of the 2025 F1 world championship season, throwing all the punches at McLaren and Mercedes.
Oscar Piastri and George Russell look like the class of the field but ultimately, drivers with plenty of work to do as yet another enormously-exciting Grand Prix is about to go live.
Will it be an easy Red Bull win? Or will we see a three-way fight to the top of the podium thereby making it one heck of an Arabian night to remember- we don't know any of that.
But what we at SportsTiger definitely know is that the following predictions will likely determine the crux of the Saudi Arabian GP:
Carlos Sainz to score his first points at Jeddah as a Williams driver
Carlos Sainz yet again impressed in his Williams during another qualifying battle as seen this year. His sixth at the end of Q3, was quite reminiscent of his eighth that the Spaniard had gathered just a week ago at Bahrain's Sakhir international track.
But what must be noted about Carlos's P6 is that it was a performance that was better than Lewis Hamilton's P7 in the end, the driver that has replaced the Madrid-born at Ferrari from 2025 onwards.
On race day, Sainz will put his vital race experience into good effect and shall finish inside the top ten. In so doing, he will not only up his own hopes for the season but shall give his loyal fans something to cheer about.
Spare a thought for Alex Albon who had been driving meticulously and rapidly until a shunt at a high speed corner saw his Williams contacting the wall (during Q2) ended his hopes of further qualification into the final qualifying run.
On race day, both the Williams driver will contest arduously and give James Vowels something to remember with Sainz as the top scorer for his outfit.
Lando Norris will put up a strong recovery drive
When he crashed into the wall in the opening flying lap during Q3, Lando Norris not only got a bit of a kerb and hence sliding into a position of discomfort, he also suffered a bit of an oversteer, which wasn't that hard to ignore.
Regardless, it wasn't an ideal position to be in for the world championship leader this year. Norris, resultantly, had to be slotted on tenth for the start of the Saudi Arabian GP 2025.
This is because no other driver, up until that point, had set a time during Q3.
But on race day, Norris will produce a memorable drive and shall compete with all his might to make do for the lowly qualifying result to emerge clear of his P10 grid position.
There'll be plenty of overtaking opportunities for the young McLaren star and he'll put the raw pace of his machine to good effect on the track.
Both McLarens will handsomely finish inside the points while Piastri could very well gather a fighting second.
Max Verstappen will take his third Saudi Arabian GP win
Verstappen and world records are seldom at a distance. When just a few hours ago, Max Verstappen stormed to pole here at the dazzling Jeddah street circuit and thereby crushed the hopes of McLaren and Mercedes alike, he established a new track record here at Saudi Arabia: 1:27:294.
He emerged faster than any driver contesting previously at this very venue, including his ownself.
On race day, Max Verstappen will hold the all-important advantage of competing at this checkered venue from the leading track position, which he will go onto convert into a dominant win.
And should this mega race win fall into his grasp, it will hand Red Bull the all-important advantage, yet again, after they saw clear struggles just a week ago at Bahrain.
In so doing, they will bounce back, yet again, and hit hard at their arch-rivals this season; the ones with clearly the fastest car out on the track: McLaren.
What Verstappen will have to guard against, it can be said clearly, will be the all-out attack that the Mclaren of Oscar Piastri is likely to produce especially at the start.
Lewis Hamilton will enter top five upon the completion of the race
When it came to qualifying at the 3.83 mile long Jeddah track, then there wasn't anything quite spectacular about either of the Ferrari cars.
They seemed to have it in them to put up a surprise act, especially in Q3, but it was a matter of great rigor for Ferrari as the struggle for supremacy in the time sheets saw McLaren, Mercedes, and ultimately Red Bull fighting it out.
One saw, therefore, a rather disappointing P7 for the great Sir Lewis Hamilton upon the completion of qualifying.
But while struggles are a reality of Formula 1, so is putting together a cracker of a performance putting all the skill behind the wheel and experience into play, which is exactly what Sir Lewis Hamilton will be doing in the next few hours.
Lest it is forgotten, it was Sir Lewis Hamilton who won the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and in so doing, served a glaring reminder back in 2021 of his prowess at winning at tracks he had no prior racing experience at.
Four years from that stormy win, then at Mercedes, Hamilton will put his mighty experience at work and will back himself up to produce a memorable race performance on Sunday night. He will finish in the top 5 and a fifth, in the end, is certainly not out of his reach.
