Saudi Arabian GP qualifying results: Max Verstappen crashes as Lewis Hamilton seals pole
SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING: Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen battled it out for pole position in a thrilling qualifying in Jeddah on Saturday. Relive the session with Express Sport.
Lewis Hamilton is on pole for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after a thrilling qualifying session ended with Max Verstappen finding the wall while on a flying lap. The Dutchman looked set to pinch pole from the Briton in Jeddah but hit the wall at the very last corner of the street circuit, and only starts P3 as a result.
Verstappen was quickest in FP3 after Mercedes had enjoyed the stronger pace in FP1 and FP2 on Friday at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
And the Red Bull driver looked rapid in qualifying too, which started with Hamilton facing possible punishment for ignoring double-waved yellow flags in final practice and also impeding Haas' Nikita Mazepin, who almost crashed into the back of his Mercedes.
The Briton ultimately escaped punishment for both incidents and managed to put himself on provisional pole in Q3.
Yet Verstappen was flying round on his final lap and looked likely to take it from his championship rival, only to tag the wall with his rear which meant he could not improve on his time.
Instead, Valtteri Bottas starts P2 next to Hamilton with Verstappen, who leads the Drivers' Championship by eight points, on the second row.
Relive a hectic Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying session with Express Sport below.
Mercedes' Max message
"Verstappen was on for a good one mate, he really was on a flyer," Hamilton's engineer told Verstappen in parc ferme.
The two are then shown after the climax of qualifying.
What a race we have in store tomorrow. But will Max's Red Bull need another gearbox? We'll have to wait and find out.
Verstappen talks
"It's of course terrible, but in general a good qualifying," Verstappen says.
He adds: "I locked up and tried to keep the car on track but clipped the rear and had to stop.
"P3 is a bit disappointing knowing what lap I was on. It shows that the car is quick. Let's see what we can do in the race."
Hamilton speaks
A front-row lockout for Mercedes. A superb result for them.
Thankfully Verstappen is fine and gets back to the pits in the medical car.
"The best team-mate there has ever been in this sport, for sure," Hamilton says of Bottas. High praise indeed.
He's also full of praise for the speed of the Red Bulls. "I anticipate it'll be a close battle all the way through tomorrow," he says.
Q3 FINAL STANDINGS
1) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2) Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
3) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
4) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
5) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
6) Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
7) Lando Norris, McLaren
8) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
9) Esteban Ocon, Alpine
10) Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo
VERSTAPPEN CRASHES
Max Verstappen has crashed! Wow.
The Red Bull was absolutely flying but he locks up into the final corner and then hits the wall. He starts P3.
Verstappen is forced to stop his car on track and his dad Jos is shown thundering his fists down on to a table in fury.
Hamilton provisional pole
This is going to be oh so close.
Hamilton now records a lap of 1:27.511. He's on provisional pole!
How will Verstappen respond?
Over to you, Mercedes
Bottas jumps ahead of Hamilton with a second lap, but is still 0.321s behind Verstappen.
"I need a tow," says the Dutchman despite his healthy margin atop the timesheet.
Hamilton needs a big improvement now.
Stunning from Verstappen
We're into the Q3 shootout. Hamilton has a major wobble on his first lap and is forced into a second one.
After Bottas posts a 1:28.143 lap, Hamilton responds with a 1:28.035. He's quickest by a tenth.
Not for long though, with Verstappen on his flying lap recording purple sectors in all three sectors.
He goes nearly four tenths quicker with a 1:27.653. What. A. Lap.
Red Bull protest?
The stewards have extended the window for teams to appeal their judgements on Hamilton, who escaped punishment.
Red Bull would have 30 minutes after qualifying ends to protest the decisions made by the FIA.
Giovinazzi almost finds the wall
Antonio Giovinazzi is into Q3 for Alfa Romeo.
But the Italian had some heavy contact with the wall at the end of Q2 there.
Bottas contact
Carlos Sainz's rear twitched on his final hot lap and he did well not to crash, but he's out in Q3.
Bottas meanwhile says: "I just had a contact with an Alfa on the front right."
Cameras show Raikkonen and Bottas touching with the two Finns lucky not to have crashed there.
OUT IN Q2
11) Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
12) Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo
13) Fernando Alonso, Alpine
14) George Russell, Williams
15) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
Hamilton apology
Sky Sports F1 saying that Mazepin has confirmed he has received a message of apology from Hamilton.
Brilliant driving from the Russian to avoid a collision.
Russell fighting for Q3
Russell the only one of 15 drivers still on softs.
It's not helped him get out of the elimination zone just yet however.
Both Alpines are also in danger.
Red Bull fast
"I don't know what we're doing, I have no grip out here," says Hamilton.
Verstappen is nearly three-tenths quicker than Bottas at the moment, having posted a time just below 1.28s.
Perez joins him in second for the timebeing.
All but one on mediums
We're back out for Q2.
George Russell is the only driver of 12 out on track on soft tyres, with everyone else on mediums.
FIA's Hamilton explanation in full
The FIA's statement reads...
Hamilton gets a reprimand #F1 | #Formula1 | #FormulaOne | #SaudiArabiaGP | #saudiaarabia pic.twitter.com/Dx5mjLuOFU
\u2014 GPblog.com (@GPblog_com) December 4, 2021
Vettel shocked
"What?! Oh man," is Vettel's reaction over the team radio as he's informed he finished P17.
Sergio Perez went fastest with Bottas second, but the Mercedes driver has just had to pull into the pits and turn his engine off.
Problems for the Finn - but will they be critical? He's just reported "misfiring".
Vettel shocked
OUT IN Q1
16) Nicholas Latifi, Williams
17) Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
18) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
19) Mick Schumacher, Haas
20) Nikita Mazepin, Haas
Hamilton escapes
The team being put at fault rather than Hamilton himself then for the Mazepin incident.
It could have been a nasty accident but thankfully wasn't.
He's got away without a penalty whatsoever, and rivals Red Bull surely won't be best pleased.
Hamilton reprimanded
Hamilton has been reprimanded for impeding Mazepin in FP3.
It's his second of the season and Mercedes have been fined €25,000 because Hamilton was only given a 10-second warning.
The stewards say the team should've given their driver better communication.
That means he escapes a penalty for both that and the double-waved yellows incident.
Bottas top now
Plenty of changes atop the timesheet.
Valtteri Bottas purples sector two and serves up a 1:28.057.
Just getting faster and faster out in Jeddah.
Hamilton goes faster
Hamilton has just set done his first hot lap.
He crosses the line nearly two-tenths quicker than Verstappen with a 1:28.466.
Not too shabby.
Verstappen tops timesheet
The cars are out on track for Q1.
Verstappen has just set purples in all three sectors to record a 1:28.659 lap.
FIA's reasoning
The full details of that FIA document here.
\u2014 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) December 4, 2021
How will Red Bull react?
Red Bull's reaction to that will be interesting, with Hamilton getting away with one.
The yellow flag light was only flashing for less than one second and there was no yellow warning light on Hamilton's wheel.
But Christian Horner and co. still probably won't be too pleased.
Hamilton not out of jail yet
However, Hamilton was also seen to by the stewards over the near-miss with Mazepin, which could have been ugly.
The Mercedes driver insisted to his pitwall he had no idea the Haas was behind him.
But the Silver Arrows may still be hit with a penalty given they failed to inform the Briton.
Hamilton avoids yellow flag penalty
The result is in - at least for the double-waved yellow flags.
Hamilton has avoided a penalty after he was investigated for failing to slow for double yellows.
The FIA's statement reads: "Unlike other incidents this year, there was no yellow flag or yellow light displayed to the driver (the driver already being well into the marshalling sector when the system was briefly activated) hence no breach of the regulations has occurred."
Brundle's verdict
Martin Brundle has spoken on Hamilton's trip to the stewards: "It was the practice session from hell for Lewis Hamilton.
"He was struggling, he'd been off in Turn 1, then he was frustrated inside his car and blocked two cars on the same lap.
"Mazepin did incredibly well to avoid him. Lewis needs to go and thank him for not wiping out his car when he came across him going quite slowly.
"Lewis with his new race gearbox on the car as well. I don't think they'd have got the car ready for qualifying had Mazepin steamed in there."
Hamilton has met stewards
Hamilton is thought to have been with the stewards for 15 minutes.
We're still waiting to learn if the seven-time world champion is being hit with a penalty.
He'll be lucky if he doesn't...
Bottas problems
There's been further misery for Mercedes too.
Valtteri Bottas suffered a fuel leak in FP3 and is having to change his power unit for qualifying.
That's a problem the mechanics could have done without.
Fortunately though the Finn has another engine in his pool and does not need to fit a new one and take a penalty.
UPDATE: We had a fuel leak on Valtteri's Power Unit at the end of FP3.
\u2014 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) December 4, 2021
Without sufficient time to diagnose and resolve the leak, we are swapping the PU for another unit from the pool. \ud83d\udee0\ufe0f pic.twitter.com/DET92DoPWT
Good afternoon!
Well, well, well... there's some extra drama to spice up this Saturday.
Will Lewis Hamilton be punished for either of his apparent FP3 rule breaches? We'll hopefully find out this evening.
What we do know is we've got updates from qualifying in Jeddah coming your way from 5pm.