For the second time in four months, the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has brought us a dramatic race weekend, kicking off with a thrilling qualifying session this Saturday. With Sergio Perez taking the first pole position of his 215-race F1 career, Lewis Hamilton getting knocked out in Q1, and Mick Schumacher crashing into the barriers in a nasty crash, the Grand Prix has gotten to a chaotic start, to say the least. Each moment of this rather long, red-flag-ridden qualifying session called for a massive shift in emotion.
While Red Bull and Ferrari looked more or less on level with each other in terms of competitiveness at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, the Ferraris seemed to dominate the session. This continued up until the very last moment, when Red Bull's Sergio Perez threw in one of the best laps of his career to swiftly snatch pole position from Charles Leclerc. While both Ferraris are starting behind the Mexican, Max Verstappen had a disappointing session, to say the least, and will be starting the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix behind the aforementioned three drivers from fourth position.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has been out-qualified by his new team-mate George Russell and will be starting in sixteenth behind the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll. The starting grid for Sunday looks slightly different from that of the Bahrain Grand Prix, with McLaren showing significant improvements despite both being knocked out in Q2.
The circuit is an extremely high-speed and relatively dangerous one but has certainly provided us with an action-packed Saturday with lots to take into the main race on Sunday. Emotions are running high up and down the grid and fans have already taken to social media to share some hilarious reactions to this unforgettable qualifying session in Saudi Arabia.