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Charles Bradley

F1 Saudi Arabian GP qualifying results: Perez takes Saudi GP pole

Perez pipped championship leader Charles Leclerc and his Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr to take a long-awaited first F1 pole, after 214 previous starts with Sauber, McLaren, Force India and Racing Point.

The Mexican's breakthrough result in topping the top-10 Q3 shootout, came after seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was knocked out in the first Q1 session for Mercedes.

The 2021 Jeddah winner will start 16th, while Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen could only manage fourth.

Saudi Grand Prix qualifying results: Perez on pole from Leclerc

Cla Driver Time Gap km/h
1 Mexico Sergio Perez 1'28.200   252.000
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc 1'28.225 0.025 251.928
3 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr 1'28.402 0.202 251.424
4 Netherlands Max Verstappen 1'28.461 0.261 251.256
5 France Esteban Ocon 1'29.068 0.868 249.544
6 United Kingdom George Russell 1'29.104 0.904 249.443
7 Spain Fernando Alonso 1'29.147 0.947 249.323
8 Finland Valtteri Bottas 1'29.183 0.983 249.222
9 France Pierre Gasly 1'29.254 1.054 249.024
10 Denmark Kevin Magnussen 1'29.588 1.388 248.095
11 United Kingdom Lando Norris 1'29.651 1.451 247.921
12 Australia Daniel Ricciardo 1'29.773 1.573 247.584
13 China Guanyu Zhou 1'29.819 1.619 247.457
14 Germany Mick Schumacher 1'29.920 1.720 247.179
15 Canada Lance Stroll 1'31.009 2.809 244.222
16 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 1'30.343 2.143 246.022
17 Thailand Alex Albon 1'30.492 2.292 245.617
18 Germany Nico Hulkenberg 1'30.543 2.343 245.478
19 Canada Nicholas Latifi 1'31.817 3.617 242.072
20 Japan Yuki Tsunoda      

What happened in Saudi Grand Prix Q1?

Q1 was halted after just eight minutes when Nicholas Latifi lost control of the rear of his Williams and crashed heavily at Turn 13.

Verstappen headed the times soon after the resumption, producing a lap of 1m29.389s, but that was quickly topped by Leclerc's 1m29.039s and then by Sainz - who produced a 1m28.855s. Verstappen then split the Ferraris with a 1m28.928s on his second push lap.

Focus quickly turned to Hamilton’s struggle to get through to Q2 as he languished in P17, 1.68s off the pace as the chequered flag flew. He briefly went P15 with his last-ditch effort of 1m30.343s, but Lance Stroll – with new tyres on his Aston Martin – knocked him out by 0.087s.

Falling at the first hurdle along with Hamilton were Alex Albon (Williams), Nico Hulkenberg (again subbing for Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin), Latifi (Williams) and Yuki Tsunoda, who didn’t complete a lap when his AlphaTauri suffered a fuel related issue on his out lap.

Saudi Grand Prix Q1 results: Sainz fastest from Verstappen

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr Ferrari 6 1'28.855     250.142
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 7 1'28.928 0.073 0.073 249.937
3 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 6 1'29.039 0.184 0.111 249.625
4 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 9 1'29.680 0.825 0.641 247.841
5 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 7 1'29.683 0.828 0.003 247.832
6 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 7 1'29.705 0.850 0.022 247.772
7 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 9 1'29.831 0.976 0.126 247.424
8 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 7 1'29.891 1.036 0.060 247.259
9 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 9 1'29.957 1.102 0.066 247.078
10 China Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo 11 1'29.978 1.123 0.021 247.020
11 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 7 1'29.978 1.123 0.000 247.020
12 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 9 1'30.009 1.154 0.031 246.935
13 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 7 1'30.093 1.238 0.084 246.705
14 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas 8 1'30.167 1.312 0.074 246.502
15 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 9 1'30.256 1.401 0.089 246.259
16 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 11 1'30.343 1.488 0.087 246.022
17 Thailand Alex Albon Williams 9 1'30.492 1.637 0.149 245.617
18 Germany Nico Hulkenberg Aston Martin 10 1'30.543 1.688 0.051 245.478
19 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 4 1'31.817 2.962 1.274 242.072
20 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 2        

What happened in Saudi Grand Prix Q2?

Leclerc set the early bar at 1m28.883s, 0.041s faster than Perez, who in turn was 0.021s quicker than Verstappen.

With five minutes to go, Mick Schumacher spun his Haas after bouncing off the kerb at the exit of the 150mph Turn 10, smashing into the wall on the left at Turn 11 and sliding down the track past Turn 12, causing the second red flag of the day.

Medics took their time with the extraction process before he was taken to the medical centre, while the car recovery process was hampered when the rear end snapped off the chassis and covered the track with oil. Schumacher was then flown to hospital for checks. Although he escaped serious injury, the German will sit out tomorrow's race.

After a delay of almost an hour, the session resumed with Sainz going fastest on a 1m28.686s, 0.094s faster than Leclerc.

Knocked out at this point were the McLarens of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo), Schumacher and Stroll.

Saudi Grand Prix Grand Prix Q2 results: Sainz fastest from Leclerc

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr Ferrari 15 1'28.686     250.619
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 14 1'28.780 0.094 0.094 250.353
3 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 13 1'28.924 0.238 0.144 249.948
4 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 14 1'28.945 0.259 0.021 249.889
5 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 14 1'29.295 0.609 0.350 248.909
6 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 15 1'29.404 0.718 0.109 248.606
7 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 15 1'29.418 0.732 0.014 248.567
8 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 18 1'29.546 0.860 0.128 248.212
9 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 14 1'29.584 0.898 0.038 248.106
10 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 16 1'29.618 0.932 0.034 248.012
11 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 16 1'29.651 0.965 0.033 247.921
12 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 17 1'29.773 1.087 0.122 247.584
13 China Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo 17 1'29.819 1.133 0.046 247.457
14 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas 13 1'29.920 1.234 0.101 247.179
15 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 15 1'31.009 2.323 1.089 244.222

What happened in Saudi Grand Prix Q3?

On the first runs, Sainz set the bar at 1m28.402s, 0.044s faster than Leclerc. Perez was third, ahead of the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso, and a tardy lap from Verstappen, who complained of “zero grip from this tyre”.

As the final runs began, George Russell (Mercedes) and Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) jumped up to fifth and sixth respectively.

Leclerc then briefly grabbed top spot with 1m28.225s, but Perez wrested pole away with 1m28.200s ahead of the Ferraris.

Verstappen could only manage fourth, 0.261s off the pace, ahead of Ocon, Russell, Alonso, Bottas, Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas).

Saudi Grand Prix Q3 results: Perez takes pole

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 20 1'28.200     252.000
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 22 1'28.225 0.025 0.025 251.928
3 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr Ferrari 23 1'28.402 0.202 0.177 251.424
4 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 22 1'28.461 0.261 0.059 251.256
5 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 19 1'29.068 0.868 0.607 249.544
6 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 21 1'29.104 0.904 0.036 249.443
7 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 20 1'29.147 0.947 0.043 249.323
8 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 22 1'29.183 0.983 0.036 249.222
9 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 22 1'29.254 1.054 0.071 249.024
10 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 24 1'29.588 1.388 0.334 248.095
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