© Vladimir RysMax Frustration In Qualifying ThrillerBulls to line up P3 and P5 for the first ever race around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
MaxVerstappenwillstarttheSaudiArabianGrandPrixfromthirdonthegridafteracrucialerrorinthefinalcornersofhisfinalflyinglapinQ3sawhimhitthewallandlosepolepositiontotitlerivalLewisHamilton.SergioPérezwilllineupinP5.
Setting The Pace In Quali© Getty Images
The Bulls went out early in Q1, in case of red flags on the narrow, high-speed circuit, but after seeing the ‘banker’ laps that put them at the top of the order dismissed, it became clear that the opening session would be defined by the rapidly evolving track conditions and timing things right for a final run.
In the end, it was Checo who chose the right moment. The Mexican ended the session in top spot with a lap of 1:28.021. Valtteri Bottas was second for Mercedes with a lap of 1:28.057, who had to undertake a power unit change between final practice and qualifying due to a fuel leak.
Max might have eclipsed both, but after going quickest in the first sector of his final flyer and setting a personal best in sector two, his run to the flag was ruined as he encountered a plethora of slow cars in the final corners and he was forced to settle for fifth place behind McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Max’s title rival Lewis Hamilton meanwhile made it through to Q2 in P9.
In Q2 the Bulls were again out early, on medium tyres, and this time it was Max to the fore as the session got underway.
It's Flying Sparks In Jeddah© Getty Images
The Dutch driver took P1 with his first flyer, setting a benchmark of 1:27.953. Checo opened with a lap of 1:28.861, to sit third behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. He was then displaced as Hamilton stole P3 with a lap of 1:28.715.
Checo was already well into his second flying lap, however, and after going purple in sector one, he set a personal best through the final two sectors and jumped to P2 with a lap of 1:28.175. The duel between the Mexican and Hamilton then continued when the Mercedes driver found more pace to claim P2 behind Max, but again Checo found more pace and he jumped back to P1 with a lap of 1:27.946.
With Max holding fire it looked like Checo might hang onto P1, but Hamilton went for a final run on his medium tyres and in the final seconds he jumped to P1 with a final lap of 1:27.712.
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021: Qualifying
Thrilling Race Weekend At Jeddah© Getty Images
Keeping It Tight To The Corners© Getty Images
Flying Bull At The Jeddah Corniche Circuit© Getty Images
Max Ready For Quali On Mediums© Getty Images
Checo On Mediums In Quali© Getty Images
Going Full Send In Quali At Jeddah© Getty Images
Eliminated at the end of the middle segment were McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo in P11, followed by Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, Williams’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who had a nervous moment in the session when he almost crashed out in turn 11. He did scrape the wall with his rear wing and though he had repairs done, he couldn’t escape the drop.
In Q3 Hamilton had laid down the gauntlet with his second run of the final session, posting a blistering lap of 1:27.511. But just before the chequered flag came out Max crossed the line to start his final flying lap and the Dutchman quickly got his head down as he powered to a purple first sector.
The gains continued in the middle part of the track as he went purple again, and pole position looked guaranteed as he went two tenths clear of Hamilton at that point.
But pushing to the end, Max made a small mistake in the final corner and locked his front-left tyre. He slid wide and slapped the wall with the rear-right of his RB16B and then with the front. The lap was gone and Max was forced to settle for third place on the grid behind pole-sitter Hamilton and second-placed Bottas.
Frustrating Quali Finish For Max© Getty Images
Checo, meanwhile, claimed fifth spot for tomorrow’s start. The Mexican driver was in the mix throughout the hour-long session, especially on the medium tyres in Q2, frequently topping the timesheet but in the final top-10 shoot out he couldn’t find the pace on the soft compound and his lap of 1:28.123, almost two tenths off his Q2 best, was only good enough for P6, behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Behind Checo, Pierre Gasly qualified in sixth place for AlphaTauri, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and the second AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda. Esteban Ocon was ninth for Alpine and Antonio Giovinazzi will line up tenth for Alfa Romeo.
SaudiArabianGrandPrixQualifying
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Valtteri Bottas | Max Verstappen | Charles Leclerc | Sergio Pérez | Pierre Gasly | Lando Norris | Yuki Tsunoda | Esteban Ocon | Antonio Giovinazzi |
| Mercedes | Mercedes | Red Bull Racing Honda | Ferrari | Red Bull Racing Honda | AlphaTauri | McLaren | AlphaTauri | Alpine | Alfa Romeo |
| 1.27.511 | 1.27.622 | 1.27.653 | 1.28.054 | 1.28.123 | 1.28.125 | 1.28.180 | 1.28.442 | 1.28.647 | 1.28.754 |
Max Ready For Fight In Jeddah© Vladimir Rys
We had a good car in qualifying and everything was coming together which gives me hope going into the race tomorrow.
“I was on a really good lap until I lost it on the final corner, I thought I had approached it in the same way I had been doing all session, but I lost the rear. I’m upset with myself and it is of course disappointing but there are two races to go and anything can happen. We had a good car in qualifying and everything was coming together which gives me hope going into the race tomorrow, also knowing that the pace was there today. I hope we can follow well tomorrow and if that’s the case, there should be some good opportunities and we should have a good shot.”
Checo Focusing On Positive Start In Jeddah© Vladimir Rys
“We were P1 in Q1 and Q2 and then in Q3 I don’t think the approach we took with the tyres was the right one. I suddenly picked up a lot of understeer and couldn’t match my Q2 time, which is a bit of a shame. These tyres are so picky that if you are not in the right temperature window then your balance is totally different and that is what happened to me today. It is a physically demanding track, it puts a lot of stress on your body and mentally it is challenging too to be up there session after session.
Today wasn’t an ideal day for us as a Team but tomorrow there is still a lot to play for, it is going to be a long race and anything can happen still. I am looking forward to it, the pace was there today and I really hope we can improve on our starting position and get into the podium positions very early on. We will see if starting on the clean side of the grid tomorrow is an advantage, I think the start is a good chance to overtake, then we will go from there and try to be in the mix with the leaders straight away.”
Christian Remains Calm On The Pit Wall© Getty Images
It's a great shame as it was a mighty, mightly lap and he was pulling something very special out of the bag.
“It was looking like the lap of the year up until that moment. It’s a great shame as it was a mighty, mighty lap and he was pulling something very special out of the bag. Max will be frustrated I am sure as he knows what a good lap it was, but he just needs to put it behind him now. He’s still P3 on the grid and he just needs to have a good start, as anything could happen in this race. Unfortunately, we are on the back foot now, so we’ll get the car back and hope the damage isn’t too bad. Grid position on any street circuit is crucial and it’s going to be very hard to overtake here, so it’s all going to be about strategy and Checo could have a major part to play in the race.”
