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Sergio Perez Showed His Class in Front of Ferrari, Takes Maiden Pole Position

Sergio Perez first ever pole 7 photos
Photo: Oracle Red Bull Racing/Twitter
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At the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia, Sergio Perez beat the two Ferrari's to take his first-ever pole position in his 11 years career.
In the final seconds of the qualifying session, "Checo" snatched P1 from Charles Leclerc, with the pair split by a very fragile margin after a wild session on the streets of Saudi Arabia.

"Well, it took me a couple of races but what a lap," said pole-sitter Sergio Perez. "Unbelievable. I can do a thousand laps and I don't think I can do that lap. It was unbelievable. We were not really expecting to match the Ferraris in qualifying. We were focusing mainly on the race, so hopefully we can get them tomorrow."

Nicholas Lattifi lost the rear at Turn 13 and hit the barriers. As a result, Q1 was red-flagged. After the restart, seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton had one of his worst qualifying sessions in his career. He finished 16th, unable to make it out of Q1. At the same time, his teammate George Russell managed P6, extracting every bit of performance from the Mercedes W13.

The session was overshadowed by the scary high-speed crash of Mick Schumacher. Mick was taken to the hospital for further investigations, with the Haas team declaring he is in good physical condition.

After the first run in Q3, Carlos Sainz was sitting comfortably at the top of the table, with teammate Leclerc just behind. However, on the last run before the end of the session, Leclerc improved his time, jumping over Carlos. In the dying moments, when everybody thought it was over, the Mexican driver pulled a "lap from Heavens" to ruin the party for Ferrari.

Sergio is in an excellent position for tomorrow to take his third career victory, but only if his RB18 is reliable enough to finish the race.

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About the author: Silvian Irimia
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Silvian may be the youngest member of our team, being born in the 2000s, but you won't find someone more passionate than him when it comes to motorsport. An automotive engineer by trade, Silvian considers the Ferrari F50 his favorite car, with the original Lamborghini Countach a close second.
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