Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: 'Checo' Pérez won pole position, first of his career

Although for a moment the continuity of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was at risk after an explosion occurred at facilities near the racetrack, Formula 1 and the FIA finally decided to continue. This Saturday, the qualification was marked by Sergio Pérezb's pole position, the first of his entire career in the Grand Circus, the early elimination of Lewis Hamilton and Schumacher's accident.

The walls and fast corners at the Jeddah Circuit were again protagonists in the actions of the day with two crashes recorded. The first one during qualifying one with Williams' Nicholas Latifi who during lap three went off the track.

The second in qualifying two with Mick Schumacher de Haas who at the start of Lap 12 suffered a severe mishap that activated all medical safety protocols and stopped the session for several minutes. The resumption took just over an hour to arrive. After the authorities confirmed the state of health of the German driver and his timely transfer to the hospital, the cars returned to the track.

With the development of the classification, the starting order for Sunday's race was stipulated as follows: Checo Pérez in first place, Charles Leclerc in second, Carlos Sainz in third, Max Verstappen in fourth and Esteban Ocon in fifth.

Translated into teams were Ferrari and Red Bull the dominators (for the second consecutive Grand Prix). Mercedes barely kept in the top positions with one of their cars, Russell's the sixth rung. The top ten places were completed by Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen.

The most recent record of the Mexican on the Jeddah track is not pleasant. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix premiered in the category only in the 2021 season. Checo's first participation in the circuit was a major blow as he was left out of the race due to a mishap on lap 15 during one of the relaunches that the event presented.

The direct consequence was to get away from the fight for third place in the World Cup that he was holding at that time with the Finnish Valtteri Bottas de Mercedes. The result ended with Hamilton's now former teammate in third place in the race. The Grand Prix was won by Lewis and in second place was Max Verstappen.

“Last season's race was crazy, it's a very demanding circuit and it will be even more so with the new cars. Unfortunately, I didn't finish the race in 2021, so I want to do a clean race and show the full potential of this car,” said Perez, in relation.

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