Sergio Perez (Red Bull) takes pole at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Good things come to those who wait for. For Sergio Perez, the wait will have lasted 215 Grands Prix before signing the first pole position of his career. The Mexican blew the pole from Ferrari and Charles Leclerc by 25 thousandths of a second at the end of a qualifying session marked by accidents. After Nicholas Latifi in Q1, Mick Schumacher suffered an impressive accident at the end of Q2 causing an interruption of almost an hour. By then Lewis Hamilton was already out of the race. For the first time since the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2017, the Briton was eliminated in Q1 and will start from sixteenth place. Far, very far from Sergio Perez. But also far from his teammate George Russell, sixth on the grid between the Alpine of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso. It was 83 consecutive Grands Prix that the seven-time world champion had passed, at least, the first part of qualifying. But in difficult conditions after the attack which hit an oil factory ten kilometers from the circuit and a meeting which lasted until late at night, he was unable to operate his Mercedes 2022. 1’28”200 . This is the time Sergio Perez achieved to sit at the top of the timesheet this Saturday evening. In front of the Ferraris who seemed promised for this first place. Charles Leclerc had dominated the three free practice sessions and Carlos Sainz the start of qualifying until the first attempt in Q3 which he led ahead of his teammate. The Monegasque then managed a superb lap in 1’28”225 to get ahead of the Spaniard (1’28”402). And Perez popped up. Slightly set back, he did the right thing at the right time. At 32, he will finally experience the happiness of taking the start of a Grand Prix without anyone in front of him. A Grand Prix without Schumacher In good position to qualify for Q3, Mick Schumacher returned to the track like all the other drivers five minutes from the end of Q2. But passing on a curb, the German lost control of his single-seater whose right flank went violently hitting the wall head-on. The traces of the passage of the Haas were still visible long after. It is this same part of the wall that Esteban Ocon did not miss seeing up close before putting his car back on the right track in extremis. Before being taken to hospital for tests, Schumacher was conscious and had exchanged a few words with the doctor. But will Michael’s son be at the start of the Grand Prix at 7 p.m. on Sunday? The question could arise. For two reasons. The first is whether the 23-year-old driver will receive permission from the medical profession to get into his car after such a shock. The second, and not the least, will he have a car in which to slip? To see the significant damage caused by the accident and then his Haas in two pieces when the crane was trying to remove it from the track, the question can legitimately be asked. The answer finally came in the evening through Haas. The American team said on Twitter that its young driver would not be on the starting grid.