F1 | Saudi Arabian GP | Qualyfing Report: Sergio Perez grabs his first ever pole ahead of the Ferraris
the Red Bull driver pulled an incredible lap to slightly improve Leclerc and Sainz's performances, after two red flags, a dangerous crash for Schumacher and a surprise elimination from Lewis Hamilton
Sergio Perez takes his and Mexico's first ever pole position at Jeddah after an extremely fragmented qualifying session, tainted by the worry for Haas's Mick Schumacher after his Q2 crash. Both Ferraris are close by, with Sainz dominating the first sessions and Leclerc only 0.025s behind the Mexican driver.
Not an easy session for the 2021 championship contenders, as Lewis Hamilton was knocked out in Q1 for the first time since 2017 and Verstappen couldn't go further than P4 after dominating practise sessions and his almost stellar lap not concluded here last year.
🏁 QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION 🏁
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 26, 2022
A maiden pole position for Checo! 👏#SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/XhWtsv7cxB
Q1: Porpoising still appears to be an unresolved issue as both Mercedes were visibly affected by it at Turns 2 and 3. Ten minutes in the session a red flag was brought out after Nicholas Latifi spun and hit the wall at Turn 3, leaving both Haas drivers momentarily at the top of the leaderboard, while the Ferrari and Red Bull drivers were still completing their outlaps.
Just after the restart Yuki Tsunoda was called back to his garage due to fuel issues. What an unlucky weekend for the AlphaTauri driver, who was forced earlier to take up new engine components and didn't manage to complete a single lap in the session.🚩 RED FLAG 🚩
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 26, 2022
Nicholas Latifi slides into the barrier at Turn 13
Driver is OK #SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Dky14NVYWX
An unsalfe release in the pit lane accident was noticed five minutes to the end of the session.
Lewis Hamilton is astoundingly in the drivers at risk zone in P16, while his teammate George Russell is a tenth faster than him, just outside of the knockout positions. On his last lap, Hamilton had finally come out of the elimination zone, but was kicked out by Lance Stroll with a gap of 0.078s.
Lewis: "I'm sorry guys..." 😞 https://t.co/BcY10JTzuv
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 26, 2022
Out in Q1: Lewis Hamilton, Alexander Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Nicholas Latifi, Yuki Tsunoda
Q2: Ferraris keep looking as fast as in the previous sessions, with Leclerc rather than Sainz in P1 as opposed to Q1. Unbelievably after hat has just happened, George Russell on mediums goes second faster, seven tenths behind Leclerc on softs,while McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo is under investigation for impeding his former teammate Esteban Ocon.
Another red flag was issued when Mick Schumacher hit the wall extremely strong in Sector 1, at the exit of Turn 11 while in P9. Has confirmed that the German driver was conscious, speaking and taken to the medical center, but his car was completely destroyed in the impact.
In the meantime, AlphaTauri's engineers worked on fixing a floor issue on Gasly's AT03.
Schumacher was taken to the hospital by helicopter to undergo medical checks
The session restarted at 21:40 local time with 4:58 minutes to spare, as the drivers go out for two preparation laps, to bring again the tyres in temperature. Every one had a single shot to sign a time, or to improve their previous ones.We’ve heard that Mick is conscious, out of the car and currently on his way to the medical centre. #HaasF1 #SaudiArabianGP #Quali
— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) March 26, 2022
Both McLaren drivers are knocked out, with Norris's 10th place taken by George Russell, while Carlos Sainz goes fastest in this session as well.
Alfa Romeo keeps up with the good performances shown in Bahrain with Bottas slotting in P6 and his teammate Zhou Guanyu not making the cut but only four tenths of a second behind him. Fernando Alonso has signed a strong lap, that confirmed his pre-red flag P5.
Out in Q2: Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo, Zhou Guanyu, Mick Schumacher, Lance Stroll
Q3: A strong Ferrari start once again puts Sainz and Leclerc in 1-2 with only a 0.044s gap between them. Perez in his Red Bull is a close third, while Verstappen, after a double prep lap goes only sixth, behind both Alpines and lamenting grip issues.
Russell slots behind Ocon in P5 after his first lap attempt, as Bottas takes up Verstappen's old position.
For their second attempt, both Red Bull drivers go for fresh tyres. Leclerc goes on top in 1.28.225, but Perez manages to improve his time by 0.025s, while the reigning champion can't improve further than P4.
Both Gasly and Ocon, at the same turn as Schumacher, had issues in the final lap, almost losing their cars.
