Lewis Hamilton strikes first and marks the line before the penultimate race for the title at the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Jeddah circuit, debuting in the world championship with the decision-making power to put the champion back on track, he had the current world championship leader in untamed mode, but taking too many risks until he hit the wall on a final lap in which he was flying to pole. The best time was left by an outstanding and calculating Hamilton who played it in the last minute of Q3 and took the double prize of starting first on the grid and leaving his great rival touched. Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz had many problems and did not go to Q3.
The fight for pole was important in sports, but especially morally and Hamilton wanted to strike the blow that would undermine the confidence of his young rival, seeking to confirm his first title and with the pressure on his side, with eight points ahead of the seven-time world champion with two races to play. A last battle that had a very important appetizer in the official classification, where strong emotions would return to relive a hectic afternoon of Formula 1 .
Passed as Q1 and Q2 procedures by the favorites except for an unfortunate Sainz , the battle was gaining in emotion as the decisive minutes of Q3 progressed, with Verstappen setting a stratospheric time that seemed a reference and a very complicated comeback for a Hamilton that, Quality aside, he pulled a brutal management of the situation to put Red Bull’s Dutchman back on the ropes, faster but also somewhat hasty in his actions.
“IT’S OVER !! IT’S BROKEN! IT’S BROKEN! IT WAS POLE AND IT’S LOST EVERYTHING”
A classification that is already HISTORY of Formula 1 with two drivers pushing themselves to the limit. Hamilton beat a Verstappen who ended up on the wall. INCREDIBLE 😱
# SaudiDAZNF1 🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/6McfAH84Ds
– DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) December 4, 2021
It seemed impossible but Lewis beat Max’s time and gave the Dutchman one last chance to show his flats and regain pole position, now permanently. Verstappen picked up the glove and risked the most, probably too much, from a first turn in which he almost went against the wall. The millimeter calculation of the Red Bull gave him an extra two tenths of advantage that seemed definitive to return to one, but again brushing the walls, Max broke the jug and ended up hitting the wall and leaving pole position for a Hamilton who was on a tray. He takes the triumph and leaves his rival beaten in the face of the final battle.
Alonso and Sainz, without luck
Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz were left out of Q3 after experiencing a rough session, especially in the case of the Ferrari driver. The Madrilenian suffered two great scares in Q2, the first in which he saw the rear wing of his car damaged after an incredible save in which he could perfectly go against the walls at high speed.
Sainz’s dexterity and an important dose of luck allowed him not to collide and only brush against one of the fences, but his exit after revision in the pit lane produced a new exit from the track after which he decided to brake and settle for an insufficient fifteenth position on grill. The misfortune had led to this situation and Carlos will have to overcome in the race everything he lost on the forecasts in the Jeddah classification.
Fernando, for his part, did not find any sensations either and the traffic did not allow him to achieve his fastest lap in the very fast last sector of the new championship track. Euphoric after his recent return to the podium, Alonso could not go beyond the thirteenth position, from which he will try to give a show and like Sainz , get into the points as the main objective on Sunday.
