Despite all the rumors and all the meetings caused by a missile attack on an Aramco oil plant located about 16 kilometers from the Jeddah Circuit on Friday, qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix went ahead and left us at second poleman of the season; Sergio Perez .
In the first attempt of Q3, Carlos Sainz set the fastest time on used tyres, 0.044s ahead of Charles Leclerc on new softs. Sergio Pérez was third and Max Verstappen could not get past sixth place after a bad lap.
Finally, Checo Pérez improved his time on the last attempt and snatched the first position from the two Ferraris with a 1:28.200 , Leclerc finished second and Sainz third, ahead of Verstappen who had to settle for closing the second row.
Behind the big favourites, the Alpines surprised on the positive side, with Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso fifth and seventh respectively, and George Russell sandwiched between them in sixth place. Valtteri Bottas finished eighth, with Gasly and Magnussen rounding out the top 10.
In Q2, Carlos Sainz set the fastest time, ahead of his teammate and the two Red Bulls . The McLarens battled to get into the final qualifying round, but ultimately Lando Norris finished 11th and Daniel Ricciardo 12th. Along with them, Guanyu Zhou in his Alfa Romeo, Mick Schumacher and Lance Stroll, also failed to get through to Q3.
Mick Schumacher , who also fell in Q2, was involved in a very serious accident in the middle of the second qualifying round, requiring the assistance of the medical car and the presence of an ambulance, stopping the stopwatch for a long period of time. Luckily, the German pilot is conscious and was taken to hospital for preventive check-ups.
In Q1, Lewis Hamilton gave the big surprise on Saturday by not being able to go through the round and finishing in 16th position, six tenths behind his teammate Russell, who set a time that served him to be fourth in that same round. Along with Mercedes, Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Nicholas Latifi (who suffered a serious accident and caused the red flag in the middle of Q1) and Yuki Tsunoda, who could not even set a time due to engine problems, were eliminated. .
Formula 1 Saudi Arabian GP 2022 qualifying times and results
| Cla | Pilot | Weather | Difference | Km/h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Sergio Perez |
 |
1’28,200 | 252,000 | |
| 2 |  Charles Leclerc |
 |
1’28.225 | 0.025 | 251.928 |
| 3 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |
|
1’28,402 | 0.202 | 251,424 |
| 4 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
1’28.461 | 0.261 | 251.256 |
| 5 |  Esteban Ocon |
 |
1’29.068 | 0.868 | 249.544 |
| 6 |  George Russell |
 |
1’29.104 | 0.904 | 249.443 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso |
 |
1’29.147 | 0.947 | 249.323 |
| 8 |  Valtteri Bottas |
 |
1’29.183 | 0.983 | 249.222 |
| 9 | Pierre Gasly |
 |
1’29,254 | 1,054 | 249,024 |
| 10 |  Kevin Magnussen |
 |
1’29.588 | 1.388 | 248.095 |
| 11 | Lando Norris |
 |
1’29.651 | 1.451 | 247.921 |
| 12 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
 |
1’29.773 | 1.573 | 247.584 |
| 13 |  Guanyu Zhou |
 |
1’29.819 | 1.619 | 247.457 |
| 14 |  Mick Schumacher |
 |
1’29.920 | 1.720 | 247.179 |
| 15 |  Lance Stroll |
 |
1’31.009 | 2.809 | 244.222 |
| 16 | Lewis Hamilton |
 |
1’30.343 | 2.143 | 246.022 |
| 17 |  Alexander Albon |
 |
1’30.492 | 2.292 | 245.617 |
| 18 | Nico Hulkenberg |
 |
1’30.543 | 2.343 | 245.478 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi |
 |
1’31.817 | 3.617 | 242.072 |
| 20 |  Yuki Tsunoda |
 |
|||
| see results | |||||
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images
Photo de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
This was the Q1 of the classification of the Saudi Arabian GP 2022 of F1
As soon as the light turned green, the Williams and the Haas were the first to hit the track, with Mercedes immediately behind them. Unlike the rest of the teams, Hamilton and Russell did it with the medium tire to the surprise of all those present.
The first time of Q1 was set by Magnussen , a 1:30.425 that served him to occupy the first position during the first minutes of the session, ahead of his partner in Haas and the McLaren, Williams and even the two Mercedes drivers with medium rubber.
Ferrari, Red Bull, Alpine and AlphaTauri were among the last to hit the asphalt in Jeddah. Sainz, Perez, Verstappen and Leclerc did an extra lap to warm up the tires after seeing trouble setting a fast lap at the first attempt in practice.
Just as Leclerc and Sainz headed towards the finish straight, Latifi suffered a serious accident that caused the first red flag in qualifying, preventing the four favorites from completing their first timed lap.
After a few minutes with the action at a standstill, almost all the drivers were back on track in a hurry with 11 minutes to go before the checkered flag, especially those who had not yet set a fastest lap in the time table.
Mercedes , contrary to their first attempts, returned to asphalt with soft tires, since their times with medium had not been competitive at all.
Verstappen was the first of the favorites to set a time and took first place with a 1:29.330, although Leclerc and Sainz quickly snatched the top spot from him, with the Spaniard sitting at the top of the standings with a 1:28.855.
Behind, Latifi was already eliminated after his accident, while Tsunoda was forced to return to the pits due to an engine problem in his AlphaTauri. In the absence of a last attempt, Albon, Hulkenberg and Ricciardo were the other three drivers in the elimination zone, with Hamilton suffering excessively and at risk of falling out of Q1.
Finally and after a last attempt in which all those behind improved, Hamilton confirmed the bad feelings and was eliminated in the first qualifying round, along with Albon , Hulkenberg , Latifi and a Tsunoda who did not set time.
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | Km/h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlos Sainz Jr. |
 |
6 | 1’28,855 | 250,142 | ||
| 2 | Max Verstappen |
 |
7 | 1’28.928 | 0.073 | 0.073 | 249.937 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc |
 |
6 | 1’29.039 | 0.184 | 0.111 | 249.625 |
| 4 | George Russell |
|
9 | 1’29.680 | 0.825 | 0.641 | 247.841 |
| 5 | Valtteri Bottas |
 |
7 | 1’29.683 | 0.828 | 0.003 | 247.832 |
| 6 | Sergio Perez |
|
7 | 1’29,705 | 0.850 | 0.022 | 247,772 |
| 7 | Kevin Magnussen |
 |
9 | 1’29.831 | 0.976 | 0.126 | 247.424 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly |
 |
7 | 1’29.891 | 1,036 | 0.060 | 247,259 |
| 9 | Lando Norris |
 |
9 | 1’29.957 | 1.102 | 0.066 | 247.078 |
| 10 | Guanyu Zhou |
 |
11 | 1’29.978 | 1.123 | 0.021 | 247.020 |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso |
 |
7 | 1’29.978 | 1.123 | 0.000 | 247.020 |
| 12 | Daniel Ricciardo |
 |
9 | 1’30.009 | 1.154 | 0.031 | 246.935 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon |
 |
7 | 1’30.093 | 1.238 | 0.084 | 246.705 |
| 14 | Mick Schumacher |
 |
8 | 1’30.167 | 1.312 | 0.074 | 246.502 |
| 15 | Lance Stroll |
|
9 | 1’30.256 | 1.401 | 0.089 | 246.259 |
| 16 | Lewis Hamilton |
 |
11 | 1’30.343 | 1.488 | 0.087 | 246.022 |
| 17 | Alexander Albon |
|
9 | 1’30.492 | 1.637 | 0.149 | 245.617 |
| 18 | Nico Hulkenberg |
|
10 | 1’30.543 | 1.688 | 0.051 | 245.478 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi |
 |
4 | 1’31.817 | 2.962 | 1.274 | 242.072 |
| 20 | Yuki Tsunoda |
|
2 | ||||
| see results | |||||||
This was the Q2 of the classification of the Saudi Arabian GP 2022 of F1
With 15 minutes to go, Q2 started with a lot of activity on the track and, with the exception of several drivers such as Alonso, Gasly, Ocon, Pérez and Verstappen, the others did so on used soft tyres.
The first time in Q2 was for Mick Schumacher, a 1:29.920 that was quickly improved by many drivers, including a Leclerc who at the end of the first attempt was in first place with a time of 1:28.883, ahead of the two Red Bull with a more used soft compound.
Behind and with Alfa Romeo leaving Jeddah tarmac very late, Zhou, Ricciardo, Magnussen, Stroll and Ocon moved into the five elimination positions. On the other hand, Alonso gave the surprise with a 1:29.428 that earned him to be fifth, behind the four favorites.
On his second timed lap, Mick Schumacher lost control of his Haas and was involved in a shocking accident that took him out of the session, with a longer red flag than Q1 because the German driver needed medical assistance. Finally, the Haas man was evacuated by ambulance and transferred to the hospital to carry out a series of preventive check-ups, although he was stable and fully conscious.
After more than 30 minutes of stoppage, the traffic light turned green and the single-seaters returned to the track with just under five minutes still on the Q2 stopwatch.
With just enough time to warm up the tires and set a fastest lap, Sainz took first place with a 1:28.686, ahead of Leclerc . At the rear, almost all the drivers improved and changed the time table in the last few minutes. Ultimately Norris , Ricciardo , Zhou , Schumacher and Stroll were eliminated in Q2.
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | Km/h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlos Sainz Jr. |
|
fifteen | 1’28,686 | 250,619 | ||
| 2 | Charles Leclerc |
 |
14 | 1’28.780 | 0.094 | 0.094 | 250.353 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez |
 |
13 | 1,28,924 | 0.238 | 0.144 | 249,948 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen |
 |
14 | 1’28.945 | 0.259 | 0.021 | 249.889 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso |
 |
14 | 1’29.295 | 0.609 | 0.350 | 248.909 |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas |
 |
15 | 1’29.404 | 0.718 | 0.109 | 248.606 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly |
 |
15 | 1’29.418 | 0.732 | 0.014 | 248,567 |
| 8 | Kevin Magnussen |
|
18 | 1’29.546 | 0.860 | 0.128 | 248.212 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon |
 |
14 | 1’29.584 | 0.898 | 0.038 | 248.106 |
| 10 | George Russell |
 |
16 | 1’29.618 | 0.932 | 0.034 | 248.012 |
| 11 | Lando Norris |
|
16 | 1’29.651 | 0.965 | 0.033 | 247.921 |
| 12 | Daniel Ricciardo |
|
17 | 1’29.773 | 1.087 | 0.122 | 247.584 |
| 13 | Guanyu Zhou |
|
17 | 1’29.819 | 1.133 | 0.046 | 247.457 |
| 14 | Mick Schumacher |
 |
13 | 1’29.920 | 1.234 | 0.101 | 247.179 |
| 15 | Lance Stroll |
|
15 | 1’31.009 | 2.323 | 1.089 | 244.222 |
| see results | |||||||
