Qualifying Highlights | 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - YouTube

And there is the car park right at the end of the lap

that Verstappen is now joining.

And he's gonna have to find his way through the car park.

- I've got some misfiring, misfiring. - Copy, copy, copy.

They changed the power unit on Valtteri Bottas' Mercedes,

and that might be giving him a few problems.

Misfiring, misfiring. He's going to come into the pits.

George Russell takes the chequered flag. Back to Bottas in a moment.

Thirteenth is the best that he can do. He's still very much at risk.

The engine set off.

Valtteri Bottas' engine has caused him to stop.

So that is not him being called to the random weighbridge,

which is just a little bit further on.

At least they can push him back to the garage.

Mick Schumacher is setting personal bests.

Sebastian Vettel is setting a personal best in the middle sector.

It's not been a great lap for Lance Stroll,

as Giovinazzi crosses the line. He's 13th fastest.

Fernando Alonso at risk from this man, Sebastian Vettel,

who's making a dash now towards the line.

Can he knock Fernando Alonso out of qualifying?

No, he can't. Only 17th fastest,

and his team mate, Lance Stroll, not really picking up the pace either,

as Mick Schumacher outqualifies Nikita Mazepin,

who's still the only driver not to reach Q2 so far this season.

Stroll pits. Both Aston Martins out in Q1.

That is a disastrous session for the team from Silverstone.

Carlos Sainz, who we already know has struggled and exceeded track limits,

has now gone for something of a spin.

You won't want to start the race on those tyres.

Wow! That was lucky.

Yeah. I mean, look... The kerb there...

Oof! Saved it, Ricci. Saved it.

Oh, he did touch the rear wing.

Touched the rear-wing end fences on the Tecpro barrier there.

So let's see, then, what Carlos Sainz can do with that patched-up rear wing?

Yeah, it won't be helping the aerodynamics a whole lot.

But... Ohhh! We've got another one.

That could have been very, very naughty indeed for Carlos Sainz.

And he's done very well to avoid the barriers.

Just as you said, it's not going to help the aerodynamics.

Off the track he goes.

Fernando Alonso, then, two green sectors so far.

Still can't get into the Q3 top-10 shootout.

Thirteenth at the moment.

- Did they just touch there? - Yup, they did.

Just had a contact with an Alfa on the front right.

Kimi Raikkonen going well, and Giovinazzi in the top ten for Alfa Romeo,

as they both home in on the end of this phase of their Formula 1 careers,

and probably for Kimi, of course, the end of the day.

As Lewis walks the car towards the wall,

and then will sweep left and quickly, then, get on the power.

And these just keep coming at you.

And you don't need all of the track through that corner.

And then just ride the kerb through the exit.

- No! And that's nearly gone round on him. - Oooh!

And Lewis Hamilton grateful that there was enough run-off area

for him to thread his car in between the kerbs and the concrete

and come back out onto the track again.

He got pole at the last race in Qatar, Lewis Hamilton.

Would dearly love pole here this evening.

Track position could be king for this race tomorrow night.

He's now got the long home straight to go to see where this lap time will end up.

And he goes quickest by a tenth of a second, as Max Verstappen, on his first flying lap,

goes quicker than Hamilton through the first sector.

Yeah, and Hamilton's Mercedes didn't really turn into the final corner too well.

Can Max get it right into the apex here?

And then a drive for the line for Max Verstappen.

An important lap for him.

As Bottas, on another flying lap, a tenth off Verstappen in Sector 1.

Verstappen crosses the line.

He has put some daylight, here in the evening,

between himself and Lewis Hamilton. With just over five minutes remaining,

where does this lap put Bottas? Second fastest,

on the front row and ahead of his team mate.

And as he finishes the first sector,

he's only five one hundredths of a second outside Max Verstappen's time.

You just wonder: have Mercedes pulled something of a little bit of trickery

over Red Bull here, fuelling for the whole session,

lulling, maybe, Red Bull into a false sense of security,

so as the fuel burns off, Hamilton's pace increases?

Is that why Verstappen is saying that he needs a tow?

Do Red Bull know what Mercedes have done,

and are they now thinking of ways that they can answer back,

despite the fact that they're on provisional pole?

This is boiling up into a very, very good finish to qualifying,

and it's not been a bad start to it either.

No, that was much better through 22 and 23 for Lewis.

So the car is looking better on the second attempt on these tyres.

If he can spot the final apex...

The front still a little bit reluctant to go in,

and a short drive to the line now for Hamilton.

He has not had consecutive pole positions in 2021.

Hamilton crosses the line. He is a tenth and a half up,

and he is on provisional pole here in Jeddah this evening.

- This is it for Verstappen. - Oh, has he... Did he touch the wall?

He got perilously close to it there, Max Verstappen.

Yeah, and he had... He got wide in Turn 2, that's why.

And he got on the throttle early. The back end of the car

still sliding around a little bit on him through there.

He has been mighty through this section of the racetrack,

and at the moment it's sticking for him.

And down towards Turn 13 then the banked corner.

I don't think he hit the wall, but he certainly used all of the road

trying to get even more time out of the corners,

where he says he's pushing 100% already.

31.9 for the first sector.

That's the fastest first-sector time we've had so far.

But this is where he needs the tow:

on the long straights on the backside of the track.

Woah! He's leaving no margin out there at all,

up against the walls. Verstappen knows this is it.

This is the lap of the weekend.

It's Hamilton-Verstappen, Verstappen-Hamilton.

Who's going to take pole position here?

Verstappen absolutely flying. The championship leader,

he is eight points up on Lewis Hamilton going into this race weekend.

Hamilton and Bottas at the moment are first and second on the front row,

as Bottas goes second fastest.

But Max Verstappen can spoil the Mercedes party and ruin...

- Oh no! - their one-two...

...as he hits the wall!

Right at the final corner, Max Verstappen hits the wall,

and pole position slides out of his grasp right at the end.

The track with the most corners on the Formula 1 calendar this season

has proved to be one with one too many corners for Max Verstappen.

And will that have damaged his new gearbox for this weekend?

If it has, he'll need a five-place grid drop for a new gearbox.

He had the pole position under control.

Got a little bit greedy on the exit of the very final turn, 27,

and third place will be his best starting position.

Hamilton has come out to take pole position.

And, crucially, even if Max doesn't get a grid penalty, it is a one-two.

It's a front-row lockout for Mercedes Benz.