Schumacher Crashes, Hamilton Flops and Perez Claims Pole in Dramatic Saudi Arabian F1 Grand Prix Qualifying

Schumacher Crashes, Hamilton Flops and Perez Claims Pole in Dramatic Saudi Arabian F1 Grand Prix Qualifying

Keba Mothoagae
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:59 PM
  • The Saudi Arabian F1 Grand Prix qualifying session was one of high drama at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit
  • The lowlight of the evening was Haas driver Mick Schumacher's crash, which resulted in him being taken to hospital
  • Red Bull's Sergio Perez secured pole position for Sunday's race, while Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton struggled for a very low placing on the starting grid

Sergio Perez claimed his first ever Formula One pole at the 215th attempt when the Mexican upstaged Red Bull teammate and world champion Max Verstappen in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc will start behind Perez in second place with Verstappen on the second row after qualifying in fourth behind the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.

saudi arabian grand prix, formula one, formula 1, f1, mick schumacher, haas, sergio perez, ferrari, lewis hamilton
Haas driver Mick Schumacher crashes in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian F1 Grand Prix. Image source: Getty Images.
Source: Getty Images

As reported by SuperSport, Saturday's qualifying was marred by a horror crash suffered by Mick Schumacher, which ruled him out of the race, and Lewis Hamilton's shock elimination in the opening Q1 session for the first time since 2017.

It was a dramatic session coming just hours after it was confirmed the weekend action would go ahead following lengthy talks overnight about racing in the aftermath of Friday's missile strike by Yemen's Huthi rebels on the nearby Aramco fuel plant.

The race will start at 7pm (CAT) on SuperSport Motorsport channel 215.

Lewis Hamilton "not comfortable" racing in Saudi Arabia as he Questions country's human rights record

Lewis Hamilton used the platform of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to bring attention to the country's sketchy human rights record.

As reported by Sports Brief, the Mercedes driver claimed that he'd heard "mind-blowing" accounts of human rights abuses in the Middle Eastern country.

Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, was quoted before last year's race in the Saudi city of Jeddah saying that he was not comfortable racing there.

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Keba Mothoagae
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