"A few milliseconds can make the difference," claims Stella after tough qualifying for McLaren

Although McLaren looked the dominant force in Jeddah across the practice sessions, Oscar Piastri failed to beat reigning champion Max Verstappen while his team-mate Lando Norris will only start from tenth on the grid after a heavy crash in Q3.

Following their strong performance during Friday's practice sessions, McLaren were once again quick in the third and final practie which meant that the papaya team went into qualifying as favourites.

Despite making it to Q3 with ease, Lando Norris suffered a high-speed crash on his first flying lap as he carried too much speed into Turn 4, hitting the kerb which in turn sent him into the wall and out of the session.

His team-mate Oscar Piastri also looked strong, but Red Bull and Mercedes unexpectedly closed in on the Woking-based outfit for the dying stages of qualifying, and reigning champion managed to beat the Melbourne-born driver, who wound up second, 0.010s off pole.

"Firstly, the most important thing from today’s Qualifying session is that Lando is okay and ready to race tomorrow, after a rare accident from him.

“Today showed us we have the pace as a team to consistently fight for the top positions in Qualifying, but we have seen once again how tight the field is and how a few milliseconds can make the difference, like in Suzuka.

"Oscar did a great job today, narrowly missing out on Pole to Verstappen, who looked quick throughout the Qualifying session, as did Russell.

“Both Oscar and Lando have been fast all weekend, so we are confident in the pace of the car. The team and both drivers will be looking to make progress tomorrow and we believe we can fight for the victory in tomorrow’s Grand Prix," concluded the Italian.