Mercedes-Benz front row at the end of an exciting qualifying with impossible laps in an unprecedented and very fast circuit on the seafront of Jeddah. Under the lights of the first Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in the history of Formula 1, to treat himself to a beautiful pole is Lewis Hamilton who takes advantage of Max Verstappen's mistake at the last corner to sign, together with his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, a whole front row of the silver star. Two-faced qualification for Ferrari who smiles for Charles Leclerc's beautiful fourth place and must regret Carlos Sainz's 15th place, stopped by a spin in Q2 in which he damaged the rear wing of his Red. A bitter verdict for the World Cup leader Verstappen who impressed in thespan of all qualifying but which he missed in the final assault, crashing when his super lap was almost over. An accident that could cost him dearly since it is not excluded that the Dutchman will be forced to replace the damaged gearbox and therefore to lose positions on the starting grid.
"Terrible mistake - commented Verstappen -. I did good qualifying, it was difficult to warm up the tires. But the pace is there. We showed it at the last attempt. I don't know what exactly happened. I was trying to keep the car." on track to finish the lap but I touched the wall with the rear wheel and stopped. The third position - adds the Dutchman who tomorrow will have to defend his eight points lead in the World Championship in his races since the end of the season - is disappointing considering the lap I was doing. But that shows that the car is fast. We'll see what we can do tomorrow. Gearbox broken? I don't know. We just stopped. We have to see. "
Euphoria at Mercedes where Hamilton starting from pole with his teammate next to him can believe he can continue his comeback and the hunt for the eighth and historic title. "We worked together to have the right set-up and - says the world champion - to have the car in the condition we wanted. Red Bull on this track is special. But I'm grateful for what we managed to do with what we had. They are very close in the race pace. Our long run yesterday was good, but they have put something in place. They are very fast. It will be a close battle tomorrow. But Valtteri and I will be on track. "
I also smiled in Ferrari with Leclerc: "Finally a good lap, normally I'm good in qualifying - says the Monegasque driver -. Obviously after the problems in Qatar and some qualifying where I struggled more, I'm really happy to have put everything back together and to have I had some good tests. Especially after yesterday it was not easy to regain confidence. Today until Q3 I just wanted to try to push my limit a little further, then on the last lap of Q3 I said to myself 'let's go and see what happens "Tomorrow - concludes Leclerc thinking about the race - surely at the start we will have to be careful, there will be a battle for the title ahead of us. We must try to pass the first lap. After that I think we have a pace."Compared to our competitors, we have nothing to envy in terms of race pace ".
