A roller coaster of emotions accompanied the long qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which gave the first career pole position to Sergio Perez. Extraordinary the performance of the Mexican, who mockery with a perfect lap the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc for 25 thousandths and turns the cards on the table at Red Bull too, seeing that Max Verstappen is only fourth behind Carlos Sainz.
A Q3 fought more than ever, with the Spanish Ferrari driver perfect in the first attempt with used rubber and unable to improve with new rubber in the second run. Once again Sainz pays something at the decisive moment, where Leclerc always arrives, even if not enough this time. However, it will still be a Ferrari-Red Bull duel like in Bahrain, albeit with totally different variables at play compared to a week ago.
Great result also for Alpine with fifth place from Esteban Or with, who risked a lot in the last lap of Q3 and managed to keep the car on the track with a thrust of his kidneys. The Frenchman preceded George’s Mercedes Russellauthor of a good progress in light of the difficulties highlighted throughout the weekend, and his teammate Fernando Alonso.
Valtteri also did well Bottas, eighth with Alfa Romeo and in the Top 10 in qualifying for the 103rd consecutive time. The Finn got behind Pierre’s AlphaTauri Gasly and Kevin’s Haas Magnussen, which is confirmed after the exploit of the first one in Sakhir. To underline the extreme compactness of the group immediately behind the first four, enclosed in a handful of tenths.
Great fear in Q2 for Mick Schumacher’s accident. The German lost control of his Haas in the very rapid change of direction of turns 11-12, crashing violently into the wall at 240 km / h. The intervention of the Medical Car and the ambulance was timely, but the driver was always conscious and would not have suffered any physical consequences despite the terrible deceleration suffered.
Schumacher was thus eliminated with the 14th time, behind the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo and the Alfa Romeo of Guanyu Zhou and ahead of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin. The Australian driver was then sanctioned three positions for impeding against Ocon in Q2.
The elimination of Lewis Hamilton in Q1 was sensational, in great difficulty even compared to his teammate. The Englishman did all he could to try to get out of the quicksand of the first heat, but in the end Stroll managed to do better by relegating the # 44 Mercedes in 16th position just ahead of Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg. Apparently no technical problems were encountered, but it is clear that something went wrong looking especially at the comparison with Russell.
Last row for Nicholas Latifiwho immediately left the scene after the bang against the barriers in the first minutes of qualifying, and for Yuki Tsunodacondemned by an alleged problem of petrol draft.
Relive the qualifications of Jeddah through ours LIVE
1st Row | 1. Sergio Perez 1: 28,200 Red Bull |
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2. Charles Leclerc 1: 28.225 Ferrari |
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2nd Row | 3. Carlos Sainz 1: 28,402 Ferrari |
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4. Max Verstappen 1: 28.461 Red Bull |
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3rd Row | 5. Esteban Ocon 1: 29.068 Alpine |
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6. George Russell 1: 29.104 Mercedes |
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4th Row | 7. Fernando Alonso 1: 29.147 Alpine |
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8. Valtteri Bottas 1: 29.183 Alfa Romeo |
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5th Row | 9. Pierre Gasly 1: 29.254 AlphaTauri |
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10. Kevin Magnussen 1: 29.588 Haas |
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6th Row | 11. Lando Norris 1: 29.651 McLaren |
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12. Guanyu Zhou 1: 29.819 Alfa Romeo |
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7th Row | 13. Lance Stroll 1: 31.009 Aston Martin |
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14. Daniel Ricciardo * 1: 29.773 McLaren |
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8th Row | 15. Lewis Hamilton 1: 30.343 Mercedes |
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16. Alexander Albon 1: 30.492 Williams |
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9th Row | 17. Nico Hulkenberg 1: 30.543 Aston Martin |
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18. Nicholas Latifi 1: 31.817 Williams |
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10th Row | 19. Yuki Tsunoda st AlphaTauri |
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* penalized three places for hindering Ocon in Q2
** Schumacher renounces the race after the accident in qualifying
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