The Formula 1 Saudi Arabian GP will be staged regularly tomorrow at the Corniche Circuit in Jeddah and Sergio Perez will start from pole, for the first time in his career.
The Mexican from Red Bull was just 25 thousandths away from Charles Leclerc's Ferrari.
Behind them again a Ferrari, with Carlos Sainz, and a Red bull, that of Max Verstappen.
Clamorously excluded from the fight already in Q1 Lewis Hamilton, who will start in 16th position.
But to get to the confirmation of the race between Friday and Saturday negotiations and meetings went on until late at night.
After a missile launched by the Houthi rebels of Yemen hit an Aramco oil plant about twenty kilometers from the runway, some pilots wanted to boycott it (the names of Hamilton, Alonso, Russell, Gasly are mentioned).
To reassure them, the FIA took to the field in the person of President Mohammed Bin Sulayem who, together with the F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali, and the local authorities received the drivers and team principals, explaining that all the measures already present were further strengthened.
Returning to the track, in addition to Hamilton's black moment ("the car was fine in free practice, then it became difficult to drive in qualifying" explained the driver, who started from pole in Jeddah last December), Q2 remained stationary. for over a
Michael's son literally stamped his Haas into a low wall between turns 11 and 12, at nearly 250km / h.
There were moments of real concern on the track, as the ambulance took the 23-year-old to the circuit's medical center.
It was Haas herself who gave the first comforting news about Mick's condition, who was not injured despite the very violent impact.
However, the pilot was loaded onto a helicopter and taken to hospital for more detailed investigations.
Qualifying for Ferrari was flawless up to Q3, with Sainz leading the dance and first to drop below 1'29 ". In Q1 the Spaniard preceded Verstappen's Red Bull and teammate Charles Leclerc. In Q2 again the two Ferrari protagonists, with the first and second time,
followed by the Red Bulls of Sergio Perez and the Dutchman.
First Sainz, then Leclerc alternated in the lead also in the decisive session.
But, when it seemed that the Reds were about to score a splendid double, Perez's paw came.
Ocon's Alpine and Russell's Mercedes will start in the third row, Alonso (Alpine) and Bottas (Alfa Romeo) in fourth.
So we are racing and the drivers, who remained silent after the night meeting, this morning expressed their "determination to participate in free practice and qualifying and in tomorrow's race".
"Extensive discussions were held between stakeholders, the Saudi government authorities and the agencies responsible for safety, who provided complete and detailed assurances on the safety of the event," Formula 1 and FIA explained in a joint statement.