After the one-hour qualifying session, which is divided into three segments, Hamilton will start ahead of Mercedes team-mates Valtteri Bottas and Verstappen, with five cars each retiring in Q1 and Q2 before the top 10 shootout of Q3.
Qualifying results for the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix: Hamilton on pole from Bottas
What happened in Q1?
Verstappen set the bar in Q1 with a lap time of 1: 28.659 minutes, while Hamilton was out of the race on his first run at Turn 1. After a cruise lap, Hamilton took P1 with a lap of 1: 28.466 minutes.
As the track developed, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz grabbed the top spot from Hamilton with a lap of 1: 28.330 minutes. Verstappen drove again with the same tires and took P1 back with 1: 28.285 minutes, despite a big moment in Turn 2, before Bottas was the fastest with 1: 28.057 minutes – despite an engine change since FP3.
Perez then drove the fastest with 1: 28.021 minutes, as team-mate Verstappen had to abort his last flying lap due to a huge traffic jam in the last corner, while Bottas – who had left Perez behind by 0.036 seconds – reported a severe engine failure and went to the pit forced. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo jumped to third place ahead of Sainz and Verstappen.
Nicholas Latifi (Williams), the Aston Martins of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll and the Haases of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin fell at the first hurdle.
Results of the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix Q1: Perez fastest from Bottas
What happened in Q2?
The pole position hunters started this session with the medium tire, with Verstappen setting the early pace with 1: 27.953 minutes ahead of Perez with 0.222 seconds and Bottas with 0.277 seconds.
Hamilton ran again and jumped into second place, 0.115 seconds behind Verstappen’s pace. Perez did the same and took the lead with 1: 27.946 minutes – 0.007 seconds faster than his team-mate leading in the championship.
Hamilton drove a third push lap and finished P1 towards the end of the session with 1: 27.712 minutes ahead of Perez, Verstappen, Bottas and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri).
Eliminated at this point were Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa, who hit a dawdling Bottas on his last lap), Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and George Russell (Williams).
Sainz was the slowest after suffering a huge spin at Turn 10 and crashing his rear wing into the wall. On his last run, he had another big moment – he declared the car “undrivable” – and had to drive back.
Saudi Arabia Grand Prix results Grand Prix Q2: Hamilton fastest of Perez
What happened in the third quarter?
On the first few runs, Hamilton suffered a huge slide and had to abandon his opening salvo. Bottas set the bar at 1: 28.143s, Hamilton beat him with 1: 28.035s.
Verstappen unleashed a time of 1: 27.653 minutes on his first flight, while Bottas improved to P2 on his second attempt.
In the last runs, Hamilton P1 finished with 1: 27.511 minutes, 0.111 seconds ahead of Bottas. Verstappen almost cut off the wall at the exit of Turn 2, but hit it right at the exit of the last corner when he was ready to take pole – after driving the fastest first two sectors. He had to park with the suspension broken.
Verstappen starts in third ahead of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Perez, Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Lando Norris (McLaren), Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon (Alpin) and Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo).
