Sergio Perez Scores First F1 Pole As Lewis Hamilton Languishes In Saudi Arabia

Sergio Perez scored his first-ever Formula 1 pole after 215 qualifying attempts Saturday in Saudi Arabia. It’s a new record for the most qualifying attempts before scoring pole position for the driver who also has the record for most starts before a maiden win. It’s also the first pole position for a Mexican driver in Formula 1.

“I could do a thousand laps and I don’t think I could beat that lap, it was unbelievable. We were focusing mainly on the race, so hopefully we get that tomorrow,” said Perez. 

Charles Leclerc managed a tenth gain over teammate Carloz Sainz in qualifying to sit on the second row after the two teammates battled throughout the second round of qualifying. 

Charles Leclerc said that “the lap felt good. Honestly, I am very happy with that lap. I just went for it, there was a bit here-and-there, but I definitely did not expect Sergio to come with that lap time, so great job to him.” He added: “It’s another day tomorrow.”

“The lap was pretty good. It’s okay,” said Sainz. He said he looked forward to the race: “It’s going to be exciting, all four cars mixed up with the Red Bulls.”

Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in the first round of qualifying and will start the race 16th. The last time Hamilton failed to make it out of Q1 was back in 2017 in Brazil, where he crashed out and went on finish fourth. It wasn’t a Mercedes problem, though, as his Mercedes teammate of George Russell finished fourth in that round, with over half-a-second difference in lap time compared to Hamilton. 

Sky Sports analyst Anthony Davidson said it was down to a “lack of confidence in the car from Lewis’ side, but he doesn’t seem to be making any mistake,” and called it a “bit of a head-scratcher for Mercedes.”

“We’re professional,” Hamilton said, adding that his team will fix the issue. “I just struggled with the balance of the car, not where we want to be. Unfortunately, we just went the wrong way with this setup.” 

George Russell did manage to make the final round, with his 6th place time making him the only Mercedes-powered car to start in the top ten. Both Mercedes-powered McLarens missed out on the final round by a matter of hundredths of seconds, in an improvement from last week’s qualifying performance starting 11th and 12th. 

Mick Schumacher suffered a hard crash in the second round. Q2 resumed after a 57-minute delay after the Haas was removed and transported to a local hospital for precautionary checks.

His Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen made it into the final round, although his lap was only good enough for 10th. 

Valterri Bottas, in his 103rd consecutive Q3 appearance, will start 6th Sunday. Also in the top ten will be the two Alpines and Pierre Gasly. 

 

Owen Johnson

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