Perez jubilant after 'unbelievable' lap wins maiden pole

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After 214 Grand Prix starts across 12 seasons, veteran Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez has finally bagged his maiden pole position with a phenomenal last gasp effort in qualifying for the 2022 Saudi Arabian GP.

After a session that had been largely dominated by Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz up to that point, Perez was able to punch in a lap of 1:28.200s to steal pole position for Red Bull.

His team mate, reigning world champion Max Verstappen, couldn't find the pace to match him and will start from fourth on the grid in tomorrow's race.

Read also: Perez storms to maiden pole in Jeddah, Hamilton eliminated in Q1!

"What a lap, man, it was unbelievable," said a ecstatic Perez when he returned to parc ferme after the end of the session. "I can do a thousand laps and I don't think I can beat that lap. It was unbelievable."

Perez said that the team had more or less conceded pole to Ferrari by the time he put in that final lap and ripped up the narrative.

"We were not really expecting too much with the Ferraris in qualifying," he admitted. "We were focusing mainly on the race. Hopefully we'll get them tomorrow!"

The achievement means that Perez is the first Mexican driver to win a pole position in the history of Formula 1.

No one was more delighted than Red Bull team principal Christian Horner: "It was a phenomenal performance from him and I'm just so, so happy for him," he told Sky Sports F1.

"Saturdays I think by his own admission have never been the strongest part of his armoury," he continued. "He's always come alive on race day. So to deliver that kind of performance, at this circuit, that's great for him.

"He's worked incredibly hard and I think the car this year is more suited to his style," he explained. "It's not quite as quirky as last year's car, and he's done a great job.

"It will do his confidence a world of good and we just need to convert that into a great result tomorrow." he added. "Whatever he had for lunch, breakfast and dinner last night, we're going to give him the same tomorrow!"

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.