A despondent Max Verstappen described as "terrible" the mistake that likely cost him pole position for Sunday's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah.
The Red Bull driver was on his final charge in Q3 and looked set to achieve a phenomenal lap when he locked up his left front wheel as he entered the final corner of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Verstappen exit the corner wide and veered off into the outside wall, suffering a contact that ruined his effort and damaged the right rear corner of his Red Bull.
The mishap handed not pole to his arch-rival but also an all-Mercedes front row for Sunday's race that he will start from P3 unless he is forced to take on a new gearbox as a result of the contact and suffers a grid penalty.
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"Yeah, it's of course terrible," he said. "But that was generally a good qualifying.
"It was a bit hard of course to switch on the tyres here on the street circuit, but I knew the pace was there and it showed in the last segment.
"I don't really understand what happened, but I locked up and I still tried to of course keep the car on the track, try to finish the lap but I clipped the rear and had to stop."
Verstappen will head into tomorrow's race with an eight-point lead over Hamilton in the d-Drivers' standings but will have his work cut out for him on a track on which overtaking opportunities are expected to be scarce.
"P3 is a bit disappointing of course today, knowing what lap I was on," he added. "Nevertheless, it shows that the car is quick and let's see what we can do in the race."
Red Bull had yet to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the damage inflicted to the Dutchman's car and see whether the latter will require a new gearbox or not.
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