F1 Grand Prix qualifying results: Hamilton takes Saudi pole

Hamilton will start ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas and Verstappen after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying results: Hamilton on pole from Bottas

Cla	Driver		Time	Gap	km/h
1	Lewis Hamilton		1'27.511		253.984
2	Valtteri Bottas		1'27.622	0.111	253.662
3	Max Verstappen		1'27.653	0.142	253.572
4	Charles Leclerc		1'28.054	0.543	252.417
5	Sergio Perez		1'28.123	0.612	252.220
6	Pierre Gasly		1'28.125	0.614	252.214
7	Lando Norris		1'28.180	0.669	252.057
8	Yuki Tsunoda		1'28.442	0.931	251.310
9	Esteban Ocon		1'28.647	1.136	250.729
10	Antonio Giovinazzi		1'28.754	1.243	250.427
11	Daniel Ricciardo		1'28.668	1.157	250.669
12	Kimi Raikkonen		1'28.885	1.374	250.057
13	Fernando Alonso		1'28.920	1.409	249.959
14	George Russell		1'29.054	1.543	249.583
15	Carlos Sainz Jr.		1'53.652	26.141	195.565
16	Nicholas Latifi		1'29.177	1.666	249.239
17	Sebastian Vettel		1'29.198	1.687	249.180
18	Lance Stroll		1'29.368	1.857	248.706
19	Mick Schumacher		1'29.464	1.953	248.439
20	Nikita Mazepin		1'30.473	2.962	245.668
View full results

What happened in Q1?

Verstappen set the early bar in Q1, lapping in 1m28.659s, while Hamilton went off at Turn 1 on his first run. After a cruise lap, Hamilton took P1 away with a lap of 1m28.466s.

As the track evolved, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz grabbed the top spot from Hamilton with a lap of 1m28.330s. Verstappen ran again on the same tyres and took P1 back with 1m28.285s, despite a big moment at Turn 2, before Bottas went quickest on 1m28.057s – this despite an engine change since FP3.

Perez then went fastest at 1m28.021s, as teammate Verstappen was forced to abort his last flying lap due to a huge traffic jam of cars at the final corner, while Bottas – who pipped Perez by 0.036s – reported a severe engine misfire and was forced to pit. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo jumped to third, ahead of Sainz and Verstappen.

Falling at the first hurdle were Nicholas Latifi (Williams), the Aston Martins of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll, and the Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Q1 results: Perez fastest from Bottas

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	9	1'28.021			252.512
2	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	9	1'28.057	0.036	0.036	252.409
3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	9	1'28.216	0.195	0.159	251.954
4	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	9	1'28.237	0.216	0.021	251.894
5	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	8	1'28.285	0.264	0.048	251.757
6	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	9	1'28.310	0.289	0.025	251.686
7	Lando Norris	McLaren	8	1'28.338	0.317	0.028	251.606
8	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	10	1'28.401	0.380	0.063	251.427
9	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	7	1'28.466	0.445	0.065	251.242
10	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	10	1'28.503	0.482	0.037	251.137
11	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	10	1'28.752	0.731	0.249	250.432
12	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	10	1'28.856	0.835	0.104	250.139
13	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	10	1'28.899	0.878	0.043	250.018
14	George Russell	Williams	10	1'28.926	0.905	0.027	249.942
15	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	10	1'28.944	0.923	0.018	249.892
16	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	9	1'29.177	1.156	0.233	249.239
17	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	10	1'29.198	1.177	0.021	249.180
18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	9	1'29.368	1.347	0.170	248.706
19	Mick Schumacher	Haas	9	1'29.464	1.443	0.096	248.439
20	Nikita Mazepin	Haas	8	1'30.473	2.452	1.009	245.668
View full results

What happened in Q2?

The pole position hunters started this session using the medium tyre, with Verstappen setting the early pace at 1m27.953s ahead of Perez by 0.222s and Bottas by 0.277s.

Hamilton ran again, and vaulted up to second, 0.115s off Verstappen’s pace. Perez did likewise and went to the top with 1m27.946s – 0.007s quicker than his championship-leading teammate.

Hamilton went for a third push lap and took P1 near the end of the session with a 1m27.712s, ahead of Perez, Verstappen, Bottas and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri).

Knocked out at this point were Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa, who hit a dawdling Bottas on his final lap), Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and George Russell (Williams).

Sainz was slowest of all, after suffering a huge spin at Turn 10 and brushing the wall with his rear wing. On his final run, he had another massive moment – declaring the car “undriveable” – and he was forced to back out.

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Grand Prix Q2 results: Hamilton fastest from Perez

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	9	1'27.712			253.402
2	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	9	1'27.946	0.234	0.234	252.727
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	6	1'27.953	0.241	0.007	252.707
4	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	7	1'28.054	0.342	0.101	252.417
5	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	9	1'28.222	0.510	0.168	251.937
6	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	9	1'28.314	0.602	0.092	251.674
7	Lando Norris	McLaren	8	1'28.344	0.632	0.030	251.589
8	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	8	1'28.459	0.747	0.115	251.262
9	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	7	1'28.574	0.862	0.115	250.935
10	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	6	1'28.616	0.904	0.042	250.817
11	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	8	1'28.668	0.956	0.052	250.669
12	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	8	1'28.885	1.173	0.217	250.057
13	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	7	1'28.920	1.208	0.035	249.959
14	George Russell	Williams	7	1'29.054	1.342	0.134	249.583
15	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	7	1'53.652	25.940	24.598	195.565
View full results

What happened in Q3?

On the first runs, Hamilton suffered a huge slide and had to abort his opening attempt. Bottas set the bar at 1m28.143s, with Hamilton beating him with 1m28.035s.

Verstappen unleashed a 1m27.653s on his first flyer, while Bottas improved to P2 at his second attempt.

On the final runs, Hamilton took P1 with 1m27.511s, 0.111s ahead of Bottas. Verstappen almost clipped the wall exiting Turn 2, but having set the fastest first two sectors, he locked his left-front  entering the final corner, and whacked the wall properly on the exit after seeming all set to take pole.  He was forced to park up with broken suspension.

Verstappen will start third, ahead of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Perez, Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Lando Norris (McLaren), Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo).

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Q3 results: Hamilton takes pole

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	7	1'27.511			253.984
2	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	9	1'27.622	0.111	0.111	253.662
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	5	1'27.653	0.142	0.031	253.572
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	7	1'28.054	0.543	0.401	252.417
5	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	5	1'28.123	0.612	0.069	252.220
6	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	7	1'28.125	0.614	0.002	252.214
7	Lando Norris	McLaren	5	1'28.180	0.669	0.055	252.057
8	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	7	1'28.442	0.931	0.262	251.310
9	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	5	1'28.647	1.136	0.205	250.729
10	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	5	1'28.754	1.243	0.107	250.427
View full results