Hamilton on pole after Verstappen crashed in the third sector in Q3

Hamilton is now taking his fifth pole position of the season and 103rd of his career. After the circuit made its Formula 1 debut in Jeddah this weekend, the Briton has now achieved the feat on 32 different racetracks around the world.

Mercedes will start from positions one and two, Verstappen will start from third, as long as his transmission is not damaged by the crash.

In the first run of Q3, Hamilton had a moment on the track and lost control due to understeer. He avoided the walls, but had to change his schedule. He set a strong time on his second attempt, but was three tenths behind Verstappen. The seven-time world champion was refueled during the entire session because the tires were not degraded. Verstappen drove purple times in sector one and sector two, but crashed in sector three and ended his battle for pole.

Notably, the session ended with only minor scratches and touches with the walls. Due to the route, some incidents were to be expected. Traffic became a problem in the first quarter. Antonio Giovinazzi continued a really positive weekend and achieved Q3 in his Alfa Romeo. In the battle for third place among the constructors, Sainz and Ricciardo were eliminated in the second quarter. As in Qatar, the AlphaTauri cars looked very strong.

QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION

It’s a front row lockout for @ MercedesAMGF1 on the Sunday grid in Jeddah #SaudiArabianGP # F1 pic.twitter.com/Mm6c5im2PI

– Formula 1 (@ F1) December 4, 2021

Q1

Mercedes had not prepared optimally for qualifying. Hamilton spent time in the stewards’ office over a double yellow flag incident at FP3, but the Briton was acquitted of any wrongdoing. Bottas had a gas leak in FP3 and his car was in ruins ahead of the session when Mercedes changed its engine. The Finnish driver almost made it when the green flag fell.

After the first few runs, Aston Martin and Williams took the knockout spots, with Nikita Mazepin between the two teams. The track climbed dramatically and the soft tires hung for several laps so no one was safe. Mick Schumacher and Alfa Romeo were the closest to the drop zone.

Verstappen was on a flying lap but had to stop because of the traffic in the third sector. Schumacher couldn’t hold his spot in the second quarter when George Russell escaped the drop zone. Fernando Alonso was only two tenths certain. Aston Martin’s bad weekend continued in Jeddah when both cars failed to make Q2 for the first time in 2021.

AUS – P16 Latifi, P17 Vettel, P18 Walk, P19 Schuamacher, P20 Mazepin

Q2

At the end of Q1, Bottas reported some misfires on the team radio. He crawled into the pits but had to stop at the top of the pit lane to be pushed by his mechanics, but the Finn was sitting in line, waiting for the green light to start the next session. All drivers came out of the pits with the medium-sized tires, except Russell, who was fitted with the soft compound. Red Bull Racing seemed to be better than Mercedes on the Medium Compound.

Carlos Sainz had a big spin and thought he could have gotten away with it without harm. Except that the Ferrari driver touched the wall with his rear wing and had to go to the pits because of damage. The two alpine riders Antonio Giovinazzi and Russell joined Sainz in the drop zone at halftime.

Ferrari fixed the problem, but Sainz made a mistake on his flying lap. He stayed in the drop zone and was assisted by McLaren rival Daniel Ricciardo. Raikkonen finished his penultimate qualifying in Q2 when his teammate got away in the end. In the lead, Hamilton drove the P1 time, but drove four laps more than his rival Verstappen on his racing starting tires.

AUS – P15 Sainz, P14 Russell, P13 Alonso, P12 Raikkonen, P11 Ricciardo