F1: Max Verstappen hits the wall in final corner, misses out on crucial pole in Saudi Arabia

Saturday night's qualifying session at the inaugural Saudi Arabia Grand Prix could be the one to make it or break it for either Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton. Unfortunately for championship leader Verstappen, he put himself at a disadvantage after pushing too hard in his final qualifying lap, sending his Red Bull crashing into the wall on the approach to the line.

Lewis Hamilton had earlier secured provisional pole ahead of his teammate Valtteri Bottas, but Verstappen's final flying lap looked stronger. Right from the first sector of the lap, Verstappen was on the limit as he shaved past the barriers. He clocked in three purple sectors and was surely on his way to securing pole position for the penultimate race of the season before locking up his front tyre on the final corner. This led to a slide straight to the wall just mere moments before he would have finished the lap.

Verstappen threw away the opportunity to start from the front of the pack in Saudi Arabia, which is an extremely narrow street track. Overtaking seems extremely difficult, and being in front of his championship rival could have given him the chance to reopen the gap that Hamilton has been chipping away in the past couple of races.

The Dutch racer now holds an eight-point lead in front of the seven-time world champion. With Hamilton on pole, the reigning world champion could obliterate that lead and come in with an advantage at the final race in Abu Dhabi.

News is still being awaited about the damage on Verstappen's car, which could have a damaged gearbox. If so, then then Christian Horner will be devastated to see his wonder boy getting dropped another five places down the grid.

Verstappen's Red Bull's pace was unexpectedly strong despite the fact that Mercedes were favourites going into this weekend. Unfortunately, the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez was not fast enough to at least trump Bottas and limit the damage. He only came in 5th, behind Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari.

"It was a good qualifying. I knew the pace was there, I don't really understand what happened but I locked up, clipped the wall and had to stop," said Verstappen after the session. "P3 is a bit disappointing but the car is quick and let's see what we can do in the race," he added.

Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly had yet another stunning result, taking sixth place just in front of McLaren's Lando Norris, who has also been consistently good during qualifying sessions this season.

Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi completed the top 10, dishing out a solid performance for his penultimate Grand Prix in F1 for the time being.