Hamilton puts 'brutal' Mercedes on pole after Verstappen crashes out in Saudi Arabia
Lewis Hamilton has qualified on pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after Max Verstappen found the wall on a blistering lap in Q3.
Lewis Hamilton will start the brand new Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on pole position. (LAT Images)
Hamilton set a time of 1:27.511 on his final attempt during the session, which Verstappen looked likely to beat until he ran wide and put his Red Bull in the wall at the final corner.
"This place is one of the hardest tracks to get right, I was on the limit the whole way round and the car was on a knife-edge," said Hamilton.
"Trying to pull out the maximum with the tyres was so tough."
"It's difficult to understand why - it's so warm here but we were having trouble getting temperature in the front and rears at the same time to have grip at the start of the lap."
"I'm very proud and thankful that we were able to put it on the front row for tomorrow, it's going to be an intense race."
Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton celebrate after qualifying. (LAT Images)
The result was the 103rd pole position for Hamilton, with Valtteri Bottas locking out the front row of the grid for Mercedes in second place.
"It was important today that we kept attacking and attacking, and we've ended up with a front row lockout which is a big advantage for tomorrow," said Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team boss Toto Wolff.
"There is a brutal energy running through the whole team."
"We just look forward and keep pushing, and pushing, and when you go in the debrief room or in the garage, you don't need to talk because you can feel the energy and how buzzed everyone is."
"It's always important to have Valtteri beside me, particularly in this part of the year, he's been driving exceptionally well and hopefully tomorrow we can do a good job together," said Hamilton.
Bottas will start on the dirty left-hand side of the track, which Marcus Armstrong showed in FIA Formula 2 can still provide a competitive run into turn one.
"You get such an adrenaline rush from this track!" said Bottas.
"Tomorrow's going to be hard, this place is so intense but at least we're starting in the best places."
"Given how tricky qualifying was today, it's a great result."
"Starting on the left side tomorrow is definitely going to be dusty but I'll be trying hard to keep position."
"This is one of the toughest tracks of the year, both mentally and physically, which is exciting because come tomorrow, anything can happen."
A disappointed Max Verstappen after qualifying in Jeddah. (Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool)
Despite his last-minute drama, Verstappen qualified third for the race on Sunday in Jeddah.
"I was on a really good lap until I lost it on the final corner," said the championship leader.
"I thought I had approached it in the same way I had been doing all session, but I lost the rear."
"I’m upset with myself and it is, of course, disappointing, but there are two races to go and anything can happen."
"We had a good car in qualifying and everything was coming together, which gives me hope going into the race tomorrow, also knowing that the pace was there today."
"I hope we can follow well tomorrow and if that’s the case there should be some good opportunities and we should have a good shot."
