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The qualifying session of the Saudi Arabian GP saw a welcome surprise as Red Bull driver Sergio Perez clinched his first-ever career pole position after a record 215 races. Just like the first race in Bahrain where Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc battled it out for pole position, it did appear that the Saudi Arabian GP qualifying will follow the same route.
In Q3, however, this changed when Sergio Perez pulled a lap out of nowhere to beat Charles Leclerc and clinch his first career pole position. In other key highlights, Mick Schumacher suffered a dramatic crash during his qualifying lap and was airlifted to the hospital while Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time F1 champion, was eliminated in Q1 for the first time since 2017.
So, what were the key talking points for the Saudi Arabian GP qualifying? Let's find out!
Saudi Arabian GP 2022 Qualifying: 5 Talking points
#1 Sergio Perez's pole position hands Red Bull the advantage
It appeared as if Red Bull were playing catch-up against Ferrari throughout qualifying. Max Verstappen found it hard to hit the sweet spot with the car during qualifying and was always a few tenths behind the Ferraris. Going into Q3, it appeared that the battle was to be between Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.
In the dying stages of qualifying, however, Sergio Perez pulled out what he termed the best lap of his career. With Verstappen struggling during qualifying, Red Bull would have been on the backfoot if both the Ferraris were able to qualify 1-2. With Perez now leading the charge, Red Bull are still in the game and will be looking at strategic ploys that they can put to use during the race.
#2 Mercedes come face-to-face with a sobering reality
George Russell qualified 6th in the race for Mercedes. His illustrious teammate, Lewis Hamilton, however, was eliminated in Q1. It was not due to a car issue, it was not due to an incident and it was not due to an untimely yellow flag. Hamilton simply didn't have the pace during the Saudi Arabian GP qualifying.
Heading into the Saudi Arabian GP, we had predicted that Mercedes will need to look over their shoulders this weekend as the track layout is not favorable for the German team. As it turned out, a strategic gamble in terms of the setup didn't help matters for Hamilton, while Russell barely managed to qualify sixth for the race.
Mercedes has a lot of work to do right now and the qualifying session was a harsh reflection of that reality.
#3 The battle for "best of the rest" is going to be intense this season
One of the outcomes of the new regulations has been a return to prominence for Alfa Romeo and Haas in midfield. The two Ferrari-powered cars are well entrenched in midfield right now. So are Alpine and AlphaTauri, however, with McLaren making positive progress as well.
The form guide had Haas and Alfa Romeo as the third and fourth fastest cars in the last race. This time around, it appears that Alpine holds the edge in midfield. The form will fluctuate from layout to layout this season and the battle for the fourth position in the constructors' championship will be very intense throughout the season.
#4 A word for Esteban Ocon!
Amongst all the next generation of drivers, it's almost laughable how Esteban Ocon does not get the kind of recognition that he deserves. His performance in Bahrain was top notch as he overcame a five-second penalty to score points. Subsequently, here in the Saudi Arabian GP qualifying, the French driver was on the backfoot against his teammate. It all changed in Q3, however, when Ocon pulled out a lap that was good enough for 5th.
On his way, he beat a Mercedes, the rapid Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas, and his teammate, Fernando Alonso, as well. Yet, it got overshadowed in the battle between Ferrari and Red Bull and the uncompetitive display by Mercedes. Even though the broadcaster might have missed it, kudos to Ocon for qualifying his Alpine in 5th for the race!
#5 And finally, the Jeddah Corniche circuit is not suitable for F1
In our preview for the race, we had mentioned how the Jeddah Corniche circuit is arguably too fast and too narrow for F1. The race featured multiple stoppages last season and today during qualifying Mick Schumacher suffered a horrific crash that has ruled him out of the race.
Sure, crashes are part and parcel of racing. The questions, however, need to be answered when almost every mistake becomes critical. The track for the Saudi Arabian GP is an ultra-fast layout with next to no run-offs. What this does is it makes the track unforgiving and perhaps far too punishing. Schumacher's mistake was not a significant one that would lead to this kind of damage to his car and force him to miss the race.
Even if we keep all the off-track noise to one side, we still cannot take our eyes away from the fact that the track in Jeddah is crash-prone and just not safe for racing. Once the Saudi Grand Prix is done and dusted, and officials have safely left the country, F1 needs to have a rethink of how it will proceed in this region in the future.
