Could Lance Stroll have taken a shock pole position away from Sergio Perez during Saudi Arabia Grand Prix qualifying? The data from his lap shows that he was within a tenth of a second of Perez throughout, setting a purple sector one and a personal best in sector two. Notably Stroll was a tenth up on Perez into Turn 13, then again between the braking zones of Turn 17 and 18. But a mistake at the high speed section through Turn 22 lost him two tenths, then later on during the lap he ran out of deployable energy which cost him time as he completed the lap. He ultimately qualified in sixth and was 0.680s off Perez, but had he not made the mistakes and ran out of energy it would have put him close to the Red Bull driver. "I felt like there was some more lap time in it at the end," said Stroll to Sky Sports after the session. "I messed up in Turn 22, after a purple sector one and then it kind of went wrong. So, a bit annoying, but still a good position to fight for tomorrow."
Stroll eyes podium
Stroll claims he is still not "100 per-cent" following his pre-season accident, in which he sustained a broken wrist and toe . After fighting through the pain during the Bahrain Grand Prix to sixth , the Aston Martin driver is eyeing a potential podium finish in Jeddah. "That would be great for sure," he said when asked if it was a possibility. "I think it's definitely possible and I think we have good race pace, so we gotta get by the Ferrari in front of us and Mercedes, then go and score good points."
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