Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team driver Lance Stroll made it into Q2 in a disrupted qualifying for the 2022 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.
Lance will start the race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit from 15th on the grid, three places ahead of his team-mate Nico Hülkenberg.
Lance
After further refining the AMR22 in FP3, conducted in daylight-to-dusk conditions, Lance played a starring role in the battle to make Q2.
Lance initially moved sixth with a lap time of 1.31.058 before a red flag, caused by a crash for Nicolas Latifi.
When the session resumed, Lance was one of the first drivers to complete a flying lap, lowering his benchmark to 1.30.421.
As the track improved and lap times fell, Lance was on the cusp of making Q2, leading to a showdown with Mercedes's Lewis Hamilton in the final minutes.
Saudi Arabia Grand Prix
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A last-gasp 1.30.256 lap ensured he beat Hamilton to 15th, securing passage to Q2.
Q2 was interrupted for almost an hour after a crash by Haas driver Mick Schumacher, which left Lance with one timed lap to confirm his place on the grid.
Lapping in 1.31.009, Lance secured 15th for Sunday's Grand Prix.
"The most important thing after qualifying is that it appears that Mick is generally OK after his big accident," said Lance.
"It was not easy to sit in the car waiting for things to resume, so it was good to have an update on his condition before we went out again.
"I think P15 was probably the maximum we could achieve today. The balance of the car is decent, but we just lack that extra bit of grip to jump up the order.
"Last year it was a really eventful race here, so you would expect similar opportunities tomorrow.
"We will be ready to react quickly and can hopefully make progress."
Nico
FP3 proved a useful exercise for Nico as he continued to learn about the Jeddah circuit on what was his debut at the track.
Nico then played his part in the head-to-head battle in Q1 but was unfortunately eliminated at the first hurdle.
His first run on the Soft tyre closely matched Lance and Nico was comfortably inside the top 10 when the red flag was called for Latifi's crash.
When the circuit returned to green-flag conditions, Nico had another further two runs on Soft tyres.
But in the final moments, his best lap time of 1.30.543 for 18th wasn’t enough to secure progression into Q2.
"I think qualifying could have gone a little bit better – I made mistakes in Turns One and 13, which probably cost me three-tenths and it did not help my push to make Q2," said Nico.
"This circuit is so intense and fast, with a lot happening to the car in each corner, and that has been the hardest thing for me to get used to after a spell away from racing.
"Purely in a physical sense, this could be one of the hardest races of my career, but my goal tomorrow is to keep it clean, make progress, complete the race and provide as much info as possible for the team as we keep developing the car."
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