#SaudiArabianGP Qualifying: @LewisHamilton takes pole as @Max33Verstappen hits wall. #F1

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton claimed his 103rd-career pole position in a dramatic-end to qualifying at the Saudi Arabian GP as title-rival Max Verstappen crashed after locking up at the final corner and hitting the wall.

Valtteri Bottas gave the Silver Arrows a front-row lockout as he moved ahead of Verstappen moments before the Dutchman’s late shunt.

The two championship contenders had different strategies in Q3 after Hamilton had to abort his initial flyer after running deep at turn one and had to cut the second, although the Briton jumped in-front of Bottas’s first effort of a 1:28.143 with a 1:28.035 on his second attempt that immediately followed.

Red Bull sent Verstappen and Sergio Perez out a few minutes later into the final segment and the former slotted ahead of the Mercedes pairing on a 1:27.653 on his initial hot-lap in Q3, after which the Dutchman said he needed “a tow” despite being 0.382 seconds in-front of Hamilton, who’s second attempt looked scruffy.

After stopping in the pits to change his front wing angle, Hamilton put in a final flying tour that put the Briton back on top of the order with a 1:27.511, without the quickest effort in sector one.

Bottas followed his Mercedes team-mate in completing a third flyer, having taken his second tour later than Hamilton, with Verstappen therefore the last of the three to complete a final hot-lap – his second one of the session.

Verstappen looked on course to claim pole position, at first suffering a close-call, almost hitting the wall as he exited the second corner and flew to purple sectors in the opening two sectors.

That put the Dutchman 0.244 seconds ahead of Hamilton, but as he braked for the left-hand turn 27 hairpin, his braking went wrong.

The Red Bull driver locked up when he hit the throttle too early in an attempt to recover the time he slid away and hit the wall on the outside, coming to a halt near the inside wall on the approach to the pits.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took fourth after his heavy shunt in yesterday’s FP2 session, finishing in-front of Red Bull’s Perez who was fifth and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly who qualified sixth.

McLaren’s Lando Norris ended qualifying seventh as AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda came eighth in the classification and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi completed the top ten.

All the top ten runners bar Norris will start Sunday’s inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on the C3 yellow side-walled medium compounds.

In the second qualifying stage, Hamilton topped the session, where McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo ended the session outside the top ten in 11th place and ahead of Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen who was 12th with the latter having a close-call with fellow Finnish-compatriot who replaces him at the Hinwil-based squad in Bottas.

Alpine F1 Team’s Fernando Alonso qualified in 13th and in-front of Williams Racing’s George Russell who took 14th and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who suffered a difficult session to end a low-15th.

Sainz had a scary opening two moments in qualifying, appearing to be impeded by AlphaTauri’s Gasly  as turn three in Q1 – an incident currently investigated by the stewards – and then suffering a half-spin at the exit of the rapid 90-degree right turn ten late in sector one at the halfway point through Q2.

The Spaniard said he “saved” the incident, but his right-side rear wing end-plate touched the wall as his SF21 racer shot sideways and was sitting at a funny angle for the rest of proceedings.

In the first qualifying segment, Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi was the slowest of the Q1 eliminatees in 16th and ahead of Aston Martin pairing Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll who qualified a low 17th and 18th respectively as Haas F1 Team Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin brought up the rear.

You can see the full Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021 Qualifying Results Classification here at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2021/races/1106/saudi-arabia/qualifying.html

2021 Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying – The Top Three

2021 Saudi Arabian GP Pole Position – Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, F1 W12 EQ Performance, 1:27.511:

“What a tough track this is. Through FP3 and qualifying I was lacking pace, struggling with the tyres. So for us to get a 1-2 is incredible, we’ve worked so hard. The collaboration has been epic with Valtteri, he’s the best of team mates. Those guys [Red Bull] were so fast. They were rapid today.”

2nd Place – Valtteri Bottas, #77, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, F1 W12 EQ Performance, +0.111

“I had a struggle in FP3, and I needed a new engine. But in quali all was working fine, so happy. The last lap was on the limit. The track is tough. We need to focus on team championship and Lewis.”

3rd Place – Max Verstappen, #33, Red Bull Racing-Honda, RB16B, +0.142:

“It feels terrible, we were having a good qualifying, I knew the pace was there. I locked up and I still trying to push, to finish the lap. P3 is disappointing knowing the lap I was on. At least it shows the car is quick. [With regards the gearbox] I don’t know.”

In the earlier FP3 session it was championship leader Verstappen topping the time-sheets for Red Bull with title-rival Hamilton second for Mercedes, the former’s team-mate Perez completed the top three in the other Red Bull, whilst AlphaTauri pairing Tsunoda and Gasly rounded out the top five. You can see the full Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021 Free Practice 3 Results Classification here at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2021/races/1106/saudi-arabia/practice-3.html

#SaudiArabianGP FP2: @LewisHamilton heads @MercedesAMGF1 one-two. #F1

#SaudiArabianGP FP1: @LewisHamilton tops time-sheets ahead of @Max33Verstappen. #F1

#Formula1 STC #SaudiArabianGP 2021 Preview – #F1 #SaudiArabiaGP