'Unbelievable': Sergio Perez pips Ferraris to take pole at Saudi Arabian Formula 1 GP

Sergio Perez scored his first pole position at the Jeddah Corniche race circuit in Saudi Arabia when he put his Red Bull Racing car ahead of the two prancing horses of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

The Mexican has had to wait for 215 races to score his first pole position. 

The Ferraris had the pace and locked out the top two slots with just seconds to go for the qualifying session to end, but Sergio Perez crashed the party by going two-tenths of a second faster than Leclerc.

While Perez clocked 1:28:200 on his final flying lap, the gap between him and Leclerc was just 0.025 seconds while Sainz was 0.202 behind the Red Bull driver.

"Unbelievable," said Perez moments after parking his car.

Pole position number 2 Leclerc said, "Clearly did not expect Perez to come up with a lap like that."

Perez's team-mate and the defending world champion, Max Verstappen seemed to struggle with the grip on his tires and ended up fourth on the grid for Sunday's race.

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying would also be remembered for multiple events, one of which was terrifying while another was simply put, unbelievable.

The qualifying session had to be red-flagged after Haas racing team drive Mick Schumacher rammed into the crash barrier at 170 mph. He was taken to the hospital for scans and is reported to be fine. But the same cannot be said about his car that was smashed beyond repair. 

The other big jolt was the shocking knockout of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton from Qualifying one session. Hamilton's Mercedes simply lacked the pace on Saturday evening and was even struggling during the third practice session earlier in the evening.

Also Read: 'So sorry, guys': Lewis Hamilton knocked out of Saudi Arabian GP qualifying

Also Read: Also Read: Saudi Arabian GP: What Formula 1 drivers think of Saudi execution spree

Image: Pole position qualifier Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on March 26, 2022 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

• Carlos Sainz
• Charles Leclerc
• F1 race Sunday
• Ferrari
• Formula 1
• Formula 1 racing
• Hamilton
• Jedda Corniche
• Jeddah
• Max Verstappen
• Qualifying
• Red Bull Racing
• Saudi Arabia
• Saudi Arabian GP
• Sergio Perez
• pole position
• racing