Formula 1

Saudi GP: Verstappen error gives Hamilton pole in dramatic qualifying

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Lewis Hamilton claimed a crucial pole position after Max Verstappen threw it away in the final corner of qualifying at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman was comfortably faster than his championship rival's time after the first two sectors, but went too deep into the last hairpin and tagged the wall on the exit with his right-rear tyre.

Not only did that cost Verstappen a near-certain pole but there's now a big question over if his gearbox might need changing resulting in a five-place grid penalty.

For now, he starts third after Valtteri Bottas joined his teammate on the front row setting up a very interesting run to Turn 1 on Sunday.

Q1

Perez set the pace at the front as Bottas reported a misfire issue with his engine, coming to a halt in the pit-lane.

McLaren and Ferrari had both cars in the top seven as errors at Turn 1 and 2 left Hamilton only ninth.

In the battle to avoid elimination, Aston Martin was the big disappointment with Sebastian Vettel 17th and Lance Stroll 18th.

Nicholas Latifi missed out in 16th as Mick Schumacher rued forgetting to use DRS on his final lap in 19th, but still a second faster than teammate Nikita Mazepin.

Q2

A late lap for Hamilton put him fastest ahead of the two Red Bulls by two-tenths as the frontrunners all opted for the medium tyre to start the race.

Lando Norris was the only driver in the top 10 on the soft, while McLaren teammate Daniel Ricciardo missed out on Q3 by just 0.05s in 11th.

Bottas' misfire issue was fixed but had another moment in Q2, making light contact with 12th placed Kimi Raikkonen but continuing unaffected.

Fernando Alonso will be disappointed in 13th, as 'Mr Saturday' George Russell made Q2 once again in 14th.

Carlos Sainz survived a high-speed spin at Turns 10 and 11 on his first attempt and narrowly avoided repeating it on his second as the Spaniard was only 15th for Ferrari.

Q3

Given the tyre-warming issues, lap times were coming thick and fast in Q3, with Verstappen setting the pace on his first run.

Mercedes went out earlier though with both Hamilton and Bottas improving to take back the front row.

Max was the last car on track and was on course for an incredible lap, sitting almost three-tenths up on Hamilton after Sector 2.

But a lock-up into the final turn put him wide and in a forlorn attempt to make the corner, his right-rear tag the wall, ending his pole ambitions and leaving him third.

Charles Leclerc snatched fourth from Sergio Perez with his final run, as Pierre Gasly completed the top six.

Lando Norris was seventh ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the second AlphaTauri, Esteban Ocon and Antonio Giovinazzi completed the top 10.

Full results from qualifying can be seen below:

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