LEWIS HAMILTON ENDED an eventful Saturday at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with a pole position and a slap on the wrist as title rival Max Verstappen sensationally crashed out on the final corner of qualifying.
Verstappen leads the drivers’ championship by just eight points with two races remaining and Hamilton has the upper hand here at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Having won the previous two rounds of a scintillating season, Hamilton came here with plenty of momentum, but he had to survive two penalty scares in final practice before sealing an important pole on a track where overtaking could be at a premium.
The seven-time world champion was hauled in front of the stewards for allegedly disrespecting double-waved yellow flags and impeding the Haas of Nikita Mazepin – but escaped punishment for the former and was handed a reprimand for the Mazepin incident.
That left him free to battle for what could prove to be a crucial pole position and he had two average sessions before finding speed in the third.
He was inches from clipping the barriers which offer the drivers little to no margin for error as he set the provisional pole time.
Verstappen, though, hit the track in the closing seconds and was lighting up the time sheets with a fine run.
The Dutchman, however, did not complete the lap – sitting more than 0.200 seconds clear he put his Red Bull into the wall at the final corner, leaving Hamilton on pole and the championship leader trudging back to the pits.
“It was terrible but in general it was a good qualifying,” he said.
“I knew the pace was there and it showed in the last lap. I didn’t understand what happened, but I locked up… clipped the rear and it is disappointing knowing what lap I was on.”
The error means Verstappen will now start third, with both Hamilton and the sister Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas ahead of him.
Hamilton was delighted with the outcome and full of praise for departing team-mate Bottas, saying: “What a tough track this is.
“It is incredibly technical and complex. It is amazing what they have built here, the speed and pace is phenomenal.
“This is a great result. This (a one-two) was the goal, we worked so hard through simulation.
“He (Valtteri) is the best team-mate there’s ever been in this sport
“We have worked together to work on the set-up and get the car to where it needs to be.
“That Bull around this track is something else, but given where we are I am grateful for what we have.”
Charles Leclerc will start fourth for Ferrari, with Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez fifth.
The McLaren of Lando Norris was sandwiched between the AlphaTauris of Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda, with Esteban Ocon and Antonio Giovinazzi rounding out the top 10.
Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas was second and will share the front row.
Verstappen, who has an eight-point lead over Hamilton with just two races left, can claim his first title on Sunday if he wins the race and Hamilton finishes outside the top six.
Would have been one of the all time great qualifying laps. Pushed it to the absolute limit
If the gearbox dosent need changing RedBull will have to think they have a chance from 3rd all the same with the pace they’ve had today.
Gonna be hard for Hamilton to build a gap at the front if Max jumps Bottas with 3 DRS zones
@Darren: I’d be putting money on max getting into p2 before turn one considering how good his starts have been this year. (If he doesn’t need to get a new gearbox that is)
@Alan Lynch: Always one of the best starters but it’s a fairly short run down to turn one on this track. I can see a gearbox change though tbh regardless of if there’s any blatantly obvious damage. A 4th place tomorrow and a win next week will be enough for Max. Plus if he starts P8 he’ll have Tsunoda, Gasly, and Perez all ahead of him who’ll get out of the way at the first opportunity.
@Darren: The word is red bull maxed out thier qauli set up in order to get pole and may have left themselves in worse off for race trim. My predidtion is a merc 1-2, which would be frickin awesome :-)
@Darren: but yes is was on for a massive lap and you’ve got to feel sorry for Max, but hey if you don’t cross this finish line it ain’t worth diddly….
Epic track though it’s gonna be tough to overtake on it. Strategy the key tomorrow
@Merlin: seemed like there was a lot of spots to overtake in the f2 race this evening so could be interesting to see what overtaking will be like I think easier than originally thought similar to Qatar
@James Mockler: Hopefully that’s the case
“the sister Mercedes”….? Weird turn of phrase. Is it getting to that stage?