Sergio Perez took his first ever pole position with a last gasp surprise in Saudi Arabia. The Mexican finished infront of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, while Max Verstappen could only manage 4th. Lewis Hamilton struggled in his Mercedes, finishing 16th, while Mick Schumacher fell victim to the tight track with a horrific crash.
Despite a fraught and tense night at the Jeddah circuit, the F1 weekend continued. Mercedes powertrains had an incredibly tough time in P3, with all of their cars 10th and lower. At the front of the grid, Leclerc finished only 0.033s ahead of Verstappen, raising expectations for another tight qualifying session.
Q1 – Latifi crashes, Hamilton falters
There was a lot of consternation about the tyre choices for the weekend, The benefit of the soft tyre didn’t appear to be as significant as before and many cars had to make 3+ laps before being able to set a flyer.
Onboard cameras with Norris showed an intense amount of porpoising. With Jeddah being quicker than Bahrain, the potential for lost time was high.
Only 7 minutes passed before the first red flag, caused by Latifi. His Williams lost the back end in sector 2, hitting the barriers twice at high speed. His session was over and Latifi would line up last on the grid for the second race in a row.
Due to the positioning of the stricken Williams, it wasn’t long until the session restarted. But, Both Ferraris, Mercedes and Red Bulls were yet to set a time.
Worringly for Red Bull’s powertrain, Tsunoda had to retire due to an issue with the car. This was after a similar scenario to hit Gasly’s car in P3 and followed from 3 Red Bull powered cars retiring last weekend.
As Q1 came to a close, Hamilton was struggling to get to grips with his car. With 3 minutes to go, he was only able to go 16th fastest. He was reportedly losing 1s on the straights in comparison to Verstappen. His team-mate, Russell was 0.9s ahead in 4th. A last gasp attempt placed him 15th, but he was soon relegated after Stroll took the place. Hamilton was out in Q1 for the first time on pure pace since 2009.
After Hamilton, it was a joyless day for Williams with Albon joining Latifi in the elimination zone. Hulkenberg wasn’t able to replicate his amazing stand-in performances with Racing Point and was eliminated. Tsunoda and Latifi both retired and will start at the back.
At the top of the grid, Sainz led from Verstappen then Sainz.
Eliminated:
- 16th Hamilton
- 17th Albon
- 18th Hulkenberg
- 19th Tsunoda
- 20th Latifi
Q2 – Schumacher suffers a colossal impact
Leclerc came out of the gates strong, just outpacing both of the Red Bulls to take the initial fastest time.
There was a incident between Ricciardo and Ocon. The McLaren held up and halted the Frenchman’s flying lap through the twisty sector 2. The incident would be investigated after the race.
The cameras were live on Schumacher when he had a colossal incident. The Haas car ricocheted between two walls at turn 10 and the car was destroyed. The second Red Flag was immediately called.
Worringly, the cameras were not showing Schumacher, suggesting that the impact might have injured the driver. The commentary team were informed that he was talking an conscious, but there was no footage of Schumacher being taken out of the car.
Nearly 10 minutes later, cameras showed the ambulance driving away from the scene of the accident. Marshalls were working hard at the scene and the car actually separated into 2 pieces when it was being craned away.
Schumacher was later confimed to be O.K, but it is doubtful he will be able to take part tomorrow.
57 minutes later, the session restarted.
The cars were queuing to get out, but with the small amount of time left, they would only be able for one, possibly two set up laps and then a flyer. Considering how many laps the drivers were taking to prepare, this was a less than ideal scenario.
Russell was the first of the drivers to finish a flying lap and began a trend of others being unable to improve their times. Russell was just able to scrape through with 10th place.
However, Magnussen and Bottas were able to improve their times and both managed a strong top 10 finish.
Sainz took top spot from his team-mate with a late lap, making Ferrari the favourites going into Q3.
The McLarens had another dismal session, with both cars eliminated. Zhou couldn’t improve from 13th, while Stroll couldn’t overtake Schumacher’s previous time.
Eliminated:
- 11th Norris
- 12th Ricciardo
- 13th Zhou
- 14th Schumacher
- 15th Stroll
Q3 – Mexican Magnificence, Dutch Despair
Leclerc and Verstappen were touring the track, in that order. Possibly a strategic call from Red Bull to attempt to unsettle the charging Monagasque.
Sainz pipped Leclerc to provisional pole by 0.044s. Perez was the highest placed Rebull in 3rd, while Verstappen could only line up 8th. Ocon impressed with 4th while Russell managed 5th.
All the cars pitted for one last run on fresh tyres, something that Verstappen claimed was hampering his first run.
Leclerc was storming on his final run taking the top spot, while Sainz could not improve. But then, Perez surprised taking pole from absolutely nowhere. Verstappen couldn’t match his team-mate and lined up 4th, behind the Ferraris.
Ocon and Russell mainted their positions, while Alonso improved to 7th. Bottas took a 103rd consecutive Q3 appearance while Gasly and Magnussen rounded out the top 10.
Results:
- Perez
- Leclerc
- Sainz
- Verstappen
- Ocon
- Russell
- Alonso
- Bottas
- Gasly
- Magnussen
Yet another tantilising prospect is ahead of fans going into the race tomorrow. A surprise pole for Perez gives the Mexican a new test having not started at the front in 214 attempts. With his team-mate 3 places behind, Red Bull strategy could take a fascinating twist. But, the Ferraris will not be far behind and Saudi is a track with has plenty of DRS opportunities.
As of writing, Schumacher has been seen conscious, talking and has reportedly been able to call his Mother. A close call, and one that raises further questions about the suitability of this track.
Lights off at 18:00 GMT tomorrow.
Featured Image Credit: @F1 Official Twitter
