Prior to the first qualifying rounds in Saudi Arabia, the general expectation was that Mercedes would lead. In qualifying it was expected and Lewis Hamilton took pole position while Valtteri Bottas finished second. But Max Verstappen had a very good pace on both the soft and medium tyres, and crashed on the fastest lap in the final section.
As a result, Hamilton will start Sunday’s race from first place with Bottas next to the British driver.
Race grid:
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12
Photo: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Part three – Q3: Verstappen crashed, Hamilton on pole!
In the final part of qualifying, Mercedes, Red Bull and AlphaTauri drivers, as well as Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon and Antonio Giovinazzi took the track.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton had an understeer on his first lap on the soft tyre, and he was almost spinning. He left the tour after this incident.
The British pilot made 1:28,035 on his second attempt and took the lead.
Seconds later, Max Verstappen took the stage and took first place with a time of 1:27,653.
In the final moments, Mercedes driver Hamilton clocked 1:27.511 and took first place from Verstappen. All eyes were on Verstappen in the final moments.
Verstappen did the best in both the first and second sectors and came in the last sector with a very good time. But on the last corner, it locked its tires and then crashed into the barriers, seriously damaging its right rear suspension.
Thus, Verstappen was unable to complete the lap and Hamilton took pole with 1:27.511.
With this result, the British driver took the second pole position in a row, while Valtteri Bottas was second behind 0.111 seconds.
Verstappen finished third, 0.142 seconds behind after failing to improve his rating. The extent of the damage to the Dutch pilot’s vehicle is not yet clear.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had a very good lap in the final moments and finished fourth with 1:28,054.
Sergio Perez improved his time in the final moments, but was fifth by 0.612 seconds, with Pierre Gasly sixth and Lando Norris seventh.
Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon and Antonio Giovinazzi rounded out the top ten.
The result of the third part:
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12
Photo: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Second division – Q2: Hamilton lead, Sainz eliminated
In the second half of qualifying, Valtteri Bottas took the track despite a problem with his engine, while everyone except George Russell wore medium tires.
In the first minutes, Carlos Sainz spun and smashed the rear wing of the car against the wall, quite small. The Spaniard was lucky not to take any more damage after his high-speed spin.
After the first laps, Max Verstappen was the leader with 1:27.953, followed by Sergio Perez with a time of 1:27.946.
Hamilton finished 1:27,712 in the final moments and was the fastest of the session.
Perez was second behind 0.234 seconds, Max Verstappen was third with 0.241 seconds and Valtteri Bottas was fourth with 0.342 seconds.
Only Lando Norris, who remained in the last section, made it to the last section with soft rubber. All nine other names had medium tyres. Except for Norris, the other names will start the race with the middle tyre.
Daniel Ricciardo was just 0.052 seconds slower than 10th-placed Antonio Giovinazzi to finish 11th.
Kimi Raikkonen had contact with Valtteri Bottas at the end of the session and finished the session in 12th place.
Alpine driver Fernando Alonso, who was struggling to make a clean lap, did a good job in the last time lap, but was able to finish 13th. George Russell was ranked 14th.
Carlos Sainz; He finished 15th after the first time lap was cleared, then he spun and made a mistake in the last lap.
Second part result:
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB16B
Photo: Erik Junius
Part one – Q1: Perez lead, Aston Martin drivers eliminated
The first qualifying laps in Saudi Arabia took place in the evening, and all 20 drivers took to the track in the first session.
While the runway temperature was about 31 degrees, the air temperature dropped to 28 degrees.
Since the wear was quite low during the session, the drivers continued for a long time with the same set of tires. The grades were very close.
There was heavy traffic at the end of the session, so some drivers, including Max Verstappen, were unable to improve their ratings in the final moments.
The leader of this episode was Red Bull driver Sergio Perez. The Mexican driver did 1:28,021 and was the fastest in this division.
Valtteri Bottas finished second in this section by 0.036 seconds, but was stuck in the pit entrance in the final seconds of the session due to an ignition problem with his engine.
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was third with 0.195 seconds, Carlos Sainz was fourth with 0.216 seconds and Max Verstappen was fifth with 0.264 seconds.
While Nicholas Latifi was eliminated in 16th in this episode, Aston Martin drivers Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll, who were both slow in tempo and affected by traffic, took 17th and 18th places.
Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin took the last two places.
Thus, both Aston Martin drivers were eliminated from the first session.
First part result:
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