F1 Prediction: Carlos Sainz to overcome the chaos to take maiden win?

Sergio Perez secured his first-ever Formula 1 pole position as he beat the two Ferraris to secure pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. With an exciting race ahead of us, here’s how we think will come out on top…
Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) Ferrari in qualifying parc ferme.
Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) Ferrari in qualifying parc ferme.
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Sergio Perez topple🌞d the two Ferraris at the death to secure the first pole position of his 11-year Formulaౠ 1 career. 

The Mexican had to wait for 215 grands prix to secure 🌸top spot in qualifying but he did it in spectacular fashion.

Perez was overjoyed after qualifyin🐭g in Jeddah, claiming 💙he couldn’t repeat his pole lap even if he had 1000 attempts.

“It took me a couple of races, no?” Perez said. “But wh🌸at a lap. I can do a thousand laps and I don’t think I can beat t🌱hat lap, it was unbelievable.”

Perez will have Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz behind him on꧃ the grid, with Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen in close company in fourth.

Advantage Red Bull?

It looked certain to be a Ferrari front-row lockout in Jeddah when Lecler꧋c stormed to the💟 top of the timesheets with a 1m28.225s.

While the challenge from Red Bull was e⛎xpected to come from Verstappen, out of nowhere Perez took to the top to claim his maiden pole🎃 position.

Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull Racing celebrates his pole position in qualifying parc ferme.
Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull Racing celebrates his pole position in qualifying parc ferme.
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Ev﷽en afterwards,♎ Perez was surprised to have beaten the two Ferraris given Red Bull was putting its focus towards race day.

“We weren’t really expecting to match the Ferraris in qualifying, we were focussing mainly on the race,” Perez said on🌊 Saturday. “So hopefully we’ll get them tomorrow.”

Perez has traditionally been stronger on race day with his tyre management one of his💫 key strengths alongside his superior race-craft.

Red Bull is in a great position to💜 take its first victory of the season with Perez on pole position, and with Verstappen in fourth, it can be aggressive strategically with the reigning world champion to get him into the mix.

Another string to Red Bull’s bow in 2022 is its superior straight-line spe🍰ed performance.

While Ferrari holds the advantage in the co♏rners, Red Bu๊ll’s speed on the straights should make it an exciting duel at the front of the field between F1’s two top teams.

Red🅺 Bull will also have to be wary of the fuel pump issue which re🐼sulted in a double DNF at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix last time out.

Will Hamilton recover from P16?

Lewis🥃 Hamilton endured his worst qualifying result since the 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix when he ꦬcrashed out in Q1 at Interlagos.

You’d have to go back to the 2009 British Grand Prix to find the last time Hamilton was knocked out of qual🤪ifying on pure speed (wet weather/reliability aside). 

It s꧂eemed that Hamilton simply wasn’t on top of the Mercedes W13 with confidence so important around a high-speed circuit such as Jeddah.

Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1.
Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1.
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George Russell fared 🃏much better but only qualified sixth, behind the Alpine of Esteban Oc🐽on.

It’s rare✃ to see Hamilton struggle so much for outright pace - Monaco last year was the only similar case in recent years.

With Hamilton down in P16, how likely is ⛎a recovery from the seven-time champion?

On the basis of the two da🅘ys of running in Jeddah, Mercedes is in a midfield fight with Alpine, Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri and Haas.

With the field so close and Mercedes’ advantage minimal over the midfield pack, a top 10 finish would be a good recovery given Russell ♏was someway off the leading quartet.

Potential for more chaos in Jeddah

The ‘fastest street circuit in the world’ will no doubt t💃hrow up more chaos on Sunday.

We’ve already had a t💖aste of that in Formula 2 with much of the sprint race taken up by Safety Car stoppages and incidents.

F1 qualifying was interrupted by over 50 minuಌtes after Mick Schumacher crashed heavily on thꦿe exit at Turn 10.

The damaged Haas VF-22 of Mick Schumacher (GER) Haas F1 Team is removed from the circuit after he crashed during qualifying.
The damaged Haas VF-22 of Mick Schumacher (GER) Haas F1 Team is removed from the circuit after…
© xpbimages.com

The lengthy stoppagꦏe was due to a repair in the barriers and the oil spilt on the track from the stricken Haas. 

With these 2022 🎀cars even trickier to drive, particularly with a fuel tank of fuel, we could be set for similar incidents and thus lengthy de♒lays.

The inaugural rac🔥e in 2021 had two red flags and continuous drama at the front asಞ Hamilton and Verstappen duelled it out for the win.

Here’s hoping for a safe race but a great𝄹 fight 𒅌throughout the field.

wuqian0821.com’s Prediction

Like in Bahrain, the battle at th𝓡e front looks to be between Ferrari and🌄 Red Bull after locking out the top two rows on the grid. 

Ferrari didn’🅠t complete any race running during secꦯond practice after both of its drivers had brushes with the barriers.

With Perez already admittin꧃g th💟at Red Bull has put its focus on the race, the Milton Keynes outfit would be my favourite going into the grand prix.

However, t𒈔his is Jeddah and anything can happen in terms of drama.

Pole sitter Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull Racing in qualifying parc ferme with Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari.
Pole sitter Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull Racing in qualifying parc ferme with Charles Leclerc …
© xpbimages.com

Red Bull’s reliability issues could♚ resurface or it coul💯d be an incident-filled grand prix.

If it’s a mundane race then my money is on Verstap🅺pen and Perez to secure a 1-2 for Red Bull.

But given that Jeddah is likely to throw up another dramatic race, we’ve gone for a more outlandish prediction with Sai𒆙nz taking his 👍maiden F1 victory.

The Spaniard's best qualifying effort ca🌃me on a used set of tyres, failing to improve on his new set at the ♒end of Q3.

With pace in hand and his ability to꧑ score big results over the y🐼ears in chaotic races, F1 could be set for a new winner on Sunday.

Ocon will also get redemption for missing out on the podium🌜 last year on the final lap with third.

Third: Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

Second: Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

Winner: Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

Fernando Alonso (ESP) Alpine F1 Team A522.
Fernando Alonso (ESP) Alpine F1 Team A522.
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