Perez Grabs maiden pole, Shumacher suffers massive crash – Saudi Arabia GP Qualifying

Sergio Perez put in a blistering lap at the very end of a very long qualifying session in Saudi Arabia. The Formula 1 session was temporarily halted due to the high-speed crash of Mick Schumacher, son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher. Thankfully Mick was speaking to his family and waving to the camera while being stretchered off by the medical team.

Qualifying Results Saudi Arabia Grand Prix 2022 

1 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT
2 Charles Leclerc FERRARI
3 Carlos Sainz FERRARI
4 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT
5 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT
6 George Russell MERCEDES
7 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT
8 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI
9 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI RBPT
10 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI
11 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES
12 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES
13 Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO FERRARI
14 Mick Schumacher HAAS FERRAR
15 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES
16 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES
17 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES
18 Nico Hulkenberg ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES
19 Nicholas Latifi WILLIAMS MERCEDES
NC Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI RBPT

Qualifying1 – Mercedes Power Struggles

The first Qualifying session started off with Nicholas Latifi hitting the barriers as he tried to set his time for the day. He was physically fine apart from being shaken by the high-speed crash.
Yuki Tsunoda joined him at the bottom as the Alpha Tauri car was stuck in the garage due to problems.
An interesting sight in the bottom 5 was Lewis Hamilton in P 16. The 7 times World Champion wrestled his Mercedes under the lights but he failed to find pace while his teammate George Russell finished in the top 10 during Q1. The Mercedes team said that there were no differences in the setups on both the cars and will investigate what went wrong. The last time Lewis visited this track, he put the Mercedes in Pole position during qualifying.

Qualifying 2 – Mick Schumacher out

Mick Schumacher was pushing his car to the absolute limits when the second qualifying session started. Unfortunately for the German HAAS driver, he lost control at turn 9 and rebounded across the track before coming to a halt at the next corner. His car split in two as a part of the New Formula 1 regulations that help to protect the driver in accidents like these.
The FIA statement read “Assessment at the medical centre revealed no injuries, and he has been transferred to King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, for precautionary checks”

The session was halted for almost an hour as the officials did their best to clear the track. And Both Mclarens were eliminated at the end of the round.

Qualifying 3 – The Perez Masterclass

Q3 saw both the Ferraris let it fly just as they did all weekend long, with Carlos Sainz provisionally taking pole position off his teammate a few times as well. Max Verstappen struggled to find grip as he was heard on the radio reporting lack of grip on his tyres. The Current World champion went to the pits for a change but still failed to get a top 3 finish but managed a P4.

However, on a track where the Ferrari drivers have been at the top for all 3 practice sessions, Sergio produced a moment of brilliance to drive to his first pole at his 215th attempt – the longest wait in F1 history. The Redbull driver looked inspired and did not set a single foot wrong in a blistering lap of the street circuit. The visibly distraught Ferrari duo was left speechless at the post-qualifying ceremony.

Perez’s inspiring performance came following the tasteless remarks of the RedBull Chief Helmut Marko where he said “Max is pretty relaxed, Perez is somewhat scared,” said Marko to Sky Germany. “But if you live in Mexico City it’s not much safer there. But of course, we have the pandemic, a war in Europe and now also a missile attack 10 km from the track. It’s not normal or enjoyable anymore.”

These comments came following the Missile strikes that have been targeted at the Aramco Storage facilities across Saudi Arabia.

The Formula 1 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix flag off at 10:30 PM IST on Sunday the 27th of March.