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F1 starting grid: Lewis Hamilton claims pole after Max Verstappen runs into wall on final turn

We had drama on the final turn of qualifying for Max Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton claimed the pole.

Mick Schumacher of Germany and Haas F1 walks in the Pitlane as Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W12 lines up behind other cars during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on December 04, 2021 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Photo by Giuseppe Cacace - Pool/Getty Images

UPDATE: Here’s video of the crash that cost Verstappen the pole position for the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.

Qualifying is officially a wrap for the 2021 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, and the starting grid is settled. Lewis Hamilton claimed the pole position on Saturday and will start in the No. 1 position at Sunday’s race. Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen will join him in the front row. Verstappen was on track to secure the pole on his final run but hit the wall with his rear right side on the final corner.

The race is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and via live stream at WatchESPN. It will be night time at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit so we’ll see the drivers under the lights.

Lewis Hamilton came into race week as the favorite to win at DraftKings Sportsbook with odds of -200. He climbed as high as -250. Max Verstappen impressed in practice and chipped into Hamilton’s odds. Immediately prior to qualifying, Hamilton was -175 to win the race and Verstappen was +185. DraftKings Sportsbook will be updating the odds shortly and we’ll drop in the latest odds and how they have moved once that is official.

2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, starting grid + odds

Starting Pos Driver Opening odds Pre-qualifying odds Post-qualifying odds
Starting Pos Driver Opening odds Pre-qualifying odds Post-qualifying odds
1 Lewis Hamilton -200 -175 -300
2 Valtteri Bottas +1400 +1100 +900
3 Max Verstappen +215 +185 +340
4 Charles Leclerc +6500 +6500 +2500
5 Sergio Perez +2000 +4000 +3500
6 Pierre Gasly +6500 +8000 +8000
7 Lando Norris +6500 +8000 +8000
8 Yuki Tsunoda +25000 +10000 +20000
9 Esteban Ocon +15000 +15000 +15000
10 Antonio Giovinazzi +50000 +50000 +50000
11 Daniel Ricciardo +10000 +15000 +20000
12 Kimi Raikkonen +50000 +50000 +80000
13 Fernando Alonso +15000 +15000 +30000
14 George Russell +10000 +50000 +80000
15 Carlos Sainz +8000 +8000 +25000
16 Nicholas Latifi +50000 +80000 +80000
17 Sebastian Vettel +25000 +40000 +80000
18 Lance Stroll +30000 +40000 +80000
19 Mick Schumacher +50000 +80000 +80000
20 Nikita Mazepin +50000 +80000 +80000