LEWIS ON POLE, VERSTAPPEN CRASHED HIS CAR

Lewis Hamilton grabbed a potentially crucial pole position for the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, taking top spot on the grid at the Jeddah Corniche street circuit when title rival Max Verstappen hit the wall in the final corner of a final lap that was set to be quicker than the Mercedes AMG driver’s best. Despite his crash, Verstappen qualified in third place, behind Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

At the start of the session, In Q1, in case of red flags on the narrow, high-speed track, a host of drivers went out on track early in the session, including Red Bull Racing’s Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Pérez. They soon annexed the top two spots but after seeing their "banker" laps quickly dismissed, it became clear that the opening session would be defined by the rapidly evolving track conditions and timing things right for a final run.

And in the end it was Pérez who chose the right moment. The Mexican ended the session in top spot. Valtteri Bottas was second for Mercedes AMG, a good showing for the Finn whose team had to undertake a power unit change between final practice and qualifying due to a fuel leak.

Verstappen might have eclipsed both but after going quickest in the first sector of his final flyer and setting a personal best in Sector 2, his run to the flag was ruined as he encountered a train of slow cars in the final corners and he was forced to settle for fifth place behind McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr.. Hamilton, meanwhile, eased through to Q2 in P9.

In Q2 the Red Bulls were again out early, on medium tyres, and this time it was Verstappen to the fore. The Dutch driver took P1 with his first flyer. Pérez opened with a lap to sit third behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

He was then displaced as Hamilton stole P3. Pérez was already well into his second flying lap, however, and after going purple in Sector 1 he set personal best times hrough the final two sectors and jumped to P2.

The duel between the Mexican and Hamilton then continued the Mercedes AMG driver found more pace to claim P2 behind Max but again Pérez found more pace and he jumped back to P1. It looked like Pérez might hang onto P1 but Hamilton went for a final run on his medium tyres and in the final seconds he jumped to P1.

Eliminated at the end of the middle segment were McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo in P11, followed by Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, Williams’ George Russell and Sainz Jr. who missed out on a final flyer after he spent time in the garage following a lurid spin in Turn 11 that left him with rear wing damage.

In Q3 Hamilton had laid down the mark with his second run of the final session, posting a blistering lap of 1:27.511. But just before the chequered flag came out Verstappen crossed the line to start his final flying lap and the Dutchman quickly got his head down as he powered to a purple first sector. The gains continued in the middle part of the track as he went purple again, and pole position looked guaranteed as he went two tenths clear of Hamilton at that point.

But in the final corner Verstappen made a small mistake and locked his front-left tyre. He slid wide and slapped the wall with rear right of his RB16B and then with the front. The lap was gone and Max was forced to settle for third place on the grid behind pole-sitter Hamilton and second-placed Bottas.

Leclerc claimed a valuable fourth place for Ferrari, while Pérez claimed fifth spot for tomorrow’s start after failing to match his medium-tyre pace after switching to the soft compound for Q3. Behind Pérez, Pierre Gasly qualified in sixth place for AlphaTauri, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and the second AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda. Esteban Ocon was ninth for Alpine and Antonio Giovinazzi will line up tenth for Alfa Romeo.

SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING
P.	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	GAP
1.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	1:27.511
2.	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes AMG	1:27.622	+ 0.111
3.	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:27.653	+ 0.142
4.	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:28.054	+ 0.543
5.	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull	1:28.123	+ 0.612
6.	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	1:28.125	+ 0.614
7.	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:28.180	+ 0.669
8.	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1:28.442	+ 0.931
9.	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1:28.647	+ 1.136
10.	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	1:28.754	+ 1.243
Q2 Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton - 1:27.712
11.	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	1:28.668	+ 0.956
12.	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo	1:28.885	+ 1.173
13.	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1:28.920	+ 1.208
14.	George Russell	Williams	1:29.054	+ 1.342
15.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	1:53.652	+ 25.940
Q1 Fastest Lap: Sergio Perez 1:28.021
16.	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	1:29.177	+ 1.156
17.	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	1:29.198	+ 1.347
18.	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:29.368	+ 1.599
19.	Mick Schumacher	Haas	1:29.464	+ 1.751
20.	Nikita Mazepin	Haas	1:30.473	+ 2.452
107% time: 1:34.182
HYBRID HISTORY - JEDDAH 2021 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1:27.511 @МкФормула1 - Република Македонија @MkFormula1 - Republic of Macedonia