In what was one of the most intense and entertaining qualifying sessions since the dawn of time, Lewis Hamilton nabbed the all crucial pole position with a time of 1:27.511s, as Max Verstappen seemed to have pole in his hands until he met the wall at the exit of the final corner – something that could have huge repercussions in the championship fight.
Hamilton had seemingly started qualifying on the back foot, trading blows with Verstappen throughout the session. His first run in Q3 saw him have a moment at the entry of turn nine which meant his lap had to be aborted. But, Mercedes had fuelled Hamilton to go throughout the final ten minute session as the tyres seem to improve as the laps went on for him. He had a nervy wait at the end to find out his starting position as Verstappen was setting the timing screens alight, alas his time was enough.
Valtteri Bottas endured a tricky day, which involved a slight engine issue, to come across the line 0.111s adrift of his teammate to secure, what could be, a very important front row lock out for the Mercedes team.
Verstappen…. damn. The Dutchman was undoubtedly on one of those laps that were gifted from the racing gods, as he was a whooping four tenths of a second quicker then Hamilton’s time before the final corner. He then proceeded to luck his front left tyre at the final turn of the circuit, before trying to get back on the throttle and hitting the wall – putting an end to the lap. Verstappen will only line up in third on the grid, but will be concerned with the state of his gearbox after the hit against the wall. He was mighty on the lap, and came so close to securing his greatest pole.
Alongside the Red Bull see’s Charles Leclerc, who managed to recover superbly from his crash in FP2 to bring home fourth place, half a second away. It proved to be a up and down day for the Ferrari team, with one car running up the front and another around the back. Whilst Leclerc set one of the laps of the day, Carlos Sainz found his car to be a difficult one to control, spinning at turn ten and tapping the barrier with his rear wing, damaging the endplate. Sainz would try again with the damaged rear wing but would suffer the same snap of oversteer and could get above 15th place.
Sergio Perez definitely found improvements after a tricky Friday, and managed to get close and personal o his teammate and both Mercedes cars, however he would have to settle with fifth after being jumped by the stormer lap from Leclerc – with the Mexican trailing by six tenths.
Alpha Tauri maintained their strong form during this Saudi Arabia Grand Prix weekend. Despite being reprimanded for impeding Sainz in Q2, Pierre Gasly managed to get his name into sixth on the grid, missing out on jumping Perez 0.002s. Yuki Tsunoda managed to edge himself into eighth, sandwiching a McLaren and trailing Gasly by three tenths of a second.
The McLaren mentioned is one Lando Norris, who became the sole McLaren car to make it’s way through to the final session and secured the seventh slot on the grid. Daniel Ricciardo could not get within three tenths of his teammate, which in turn meant he would be eliminated from qualifying in Q2 and line up in 11th.
Alpine enjoyed their Friday, but will be happy to see the back of Saturday. Esteban Ocon mind you managed to sneak his way into the final qualifying session with ninth, 1.1s away from the front. But, it was worse for Fernando Alonso who failed to even make it through to Q3, and was forced to settle for 13th on the grid.
Antonio Giovinazzi’s performances continued to impress on Saturday’s after being sacked. The Italian managed to pull out a lap that was good enough for Q3, but was unable to improve from there and lines up in tenth. Kimi Raikkonen looked promising at the start of the session, but ultimately fell short but still managed to secure 12th.
George Russell managed to claw his way out of Q1, and ahead of a Ferrari, in 14th place. Nicholas Latifi failed to replicate his teammate’s performances and found himself down in 17th, surprisingly ahead of both Aston Martins.
An awful day for Aston Martin. Wow. 17th and 18th for them after what can only be described as a disastrous day. Sebastian Vettel felt happy with his lap but was surprised to hear it only be good enough for 17th, with Lance Stroll two tenths beind.
And in the usual fashion, the Haas car fill out the final row with Mick Schumacher missing out on Stroll by a tenth, and skating a full second ahead of Nikita Mazepin.
The Motorsport Formula 