Briton Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) will start from pole position at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after setting the fastest time in qualifying held this Saturday at the Jeddah street circuit.
The Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), leader of the world championship with eight points ahead of Hamilton, will start in third position, behind the other Mercedes driver, the Finn Valtteri Bottas.
Verstappen, who this Sunday could be proclaimed world champion, was in a position to achieve pole position in his last attempt, with the time already up, but he collided with one of the protection barriers of the extremely fast Jeddah street circuit and had to settle for the Third place.
The Dutchman leads Hamilton by 8 points with two races to go and to be champion in Saudi Arabia, which hosts its first Grand Prix in history, he must add 18 points more than the Briton.
To do this, the young 24-year-old driver should finish first or second in Jeddah, something that is within his reach, barring an accident, and that his 36-year-old rival finish far from the top positions, which seems less likely, although everything is possible. in this layout.
– «What a difficult circuit!» –
“What a difficult circuit!” Hamilton declared as soon as he signed pole. “It is incredible what they have built. The speed and rhythm here are fabulous.”
The 6.174km Jeddah layout has 27 corners, but most are not very steep. The expected average speed is 252 km/h, with a peak of 322 km/h, which makes it the fastest of the urban circuits.
The Briton will also have the advantage of having his teammate Bottas behind him, blocking Verstappen.
“This is an excellent result for the team and a magnificent job by Valtteri. He is the best partner that has ever existed in this sport, “he praised.
A victory for Hamilton with the fastest lap included would allow the Briton to catch up with Verstappen, if he finishes second, and even overtake him, if the Dutchman finishes further back, and everything would remain to be decided in the last race of the year, on December 12 at the Grand Prix. from Abu Dhabi.
“I really don’t know very well what happened (on the last lap),” said Verstappen, who despite everything was optimistic about the race.
“Today it has shown that the car is quite fast here, we will see what happens tomorrow.”
The Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and the Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) completed the Top-5 of the starting grid.
From 5th to 10th place will start: the Frenchman Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), the British Lando Norris (McLaren), the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), the Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and the Italian Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo).
The Spanish drivers, Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), did not qualify for Q3 and will start in 13th and 15th place respectively.
In the case of the Ferrari driver, he also suffered an exit from the track and a touch with the protection that made his car “uncontrollable”.
The start of the first Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia, which will be held at night. AFP