Formula 1: Sergio Perez claimed his first ever pole in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian GP.© AFP
Sergio Perez claimed his first-ever Formula 1 pole on the 215th attempt when the Mexican defeated Red Bull teammate and world champion Max Verstappen in qualifying for Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc joins Perez on the front row with Verstappen on the second row after qualifying fourth behind Carlos Sainz’s second Ferrari. Saturday’s qualifying was marred by a horror crash that startled Mick Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton for the first time since 2017 during the first Q1 session.
It was a dramatic session that came hours after it was confirmed the weekend would go ahead, following long overnight talks about racing in the wake of Friday’s rocket attack by Yemen’s Huthi rebels on the nearby Aramco fuel plant.
“It took me a few races! But what a lapman, it was unbelievable!” said Perez, the first Mexican to lead an F1 grid.
Red Bull is now hoping for better luck in Sunday’s race than in the season opener in Bahrain last week, when both cars failed to finish in a race won by Leclerc.
Leclerc, who looked ready to confirm his early season pace with pole before Perez produced a flying final lap, said: “I didn’t expect Checo (Perez) to come up with that lap time, so I congratulate him.”
In Q2, Schumacher suffered a high-speed crash after his Haas car bounced off the barrier of the Jeddah street circuit at about 150mph after hitting a curb.
The 23-year-old son of German F1 legend Michael Schumacher was lifted from the wreckage of his stricken car by medics and hoisted into an ambulance.
Haas reported that Schumacher looked “physically okay” and had spoken to his mother, Corrina.
In the Q2 session, Hamilton was not seen for the first time in five years.
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The seven-time Mercedes world champion has 103 poles to his name but will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid after setting just the 16th fastest time in Q1.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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