March 26, (THEWILL) – Sergio Perez won pole position in a tumultuous qualifying session at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with Mercedes driver Sir Lewis Hamilton unable to go beyond Q1.
Although the pair of Red Bulls’ drivers struggled in Bahrain last week, a level of consistency can give them the edge in Jeddah on Sunday, after Perez grabbed pole and teammate Max Verstappen finished fourth in the qualifying.
The Ferraris were dominant in Bahrain last week, and they appear to be in fine shape for Sunday’s race, as Charles Leclerc finished second and Carlos Sainz finished third.
Verstappen was a tad off the pace, claiming for the second race in a row that his tyres were not up to par. In an expletive outburst, he was heard exclaiming over the team radio: “What the f***? Zero grip on these tyres!”
Inexplicably, Hamilton’s Mercedes appeared to be slow, and he was eliminated in the last moments of Q1 when Lance Stroll topped his time.
The seven-time winner appeared to have done just enough to save his prospects, only to be pipped at the final minute by the Canadian-Belgian. In his post-race remarks, Hamilton said: “I just struggled with the balance of the car. We just went the wrong way with the setup.”
While Perez took the lead, there was a lot of drama due to two crashes that resulted in red flags.
Q1 was forced to a halt by a crash involving Nicholas Latifi, but Q2 was brought to a halt by a far larger impact involving Mick Schumacher.
The German’s mishap started at turn 10, but due to his high speed as he entered the section, he did not come to a complete stop until turn 12.
There was significant anxiety about the driver staying still in the wreckage due to the design of the automobiles, which are anticipated to lose pieces and break up when in a heavy collision in order to absorb the impact of the crash instead of the driver.
The race medical staff waited until they were convinced it was safe to move Schumacher, and word soon came in that he was conscious and talking, and there was no immediate concern for him as he was airlifted to the hospital.
Given the extent of the damage, as well as the debris and oil that covered the track in the aftermath, it took nearly an hour to restore the track to the race director’s specifications.
Much of the race is lined with concrete, and there were concerns that the oil on the track would be too risky to deal with for the rest of qualifying. However, the drivers dealt with it only that Schumacher, Stroll, Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo, and Guanyu Zhou all failed to make the cut at the end.
Schumacher’s car being ruined, there is a risk he will not be able to compete on Sunday. While the top positions are decided, there is a chance Hamilton might move up to 15th, but he will still have a tough time.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
