Lewis Hamilton suffers disastrous qualifying session at Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Hamilton will start 16th on the grid for Sunday's race

Lewis Hamilton suffered a disastrous qualifying session at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as he crashed out at the first stage on Saturday.

Hamilton's struggles continue

Hamilton and Mercedes have both struggled to hit the ground running this season and the seven-time world champion's fortunes didn't improve on the track at Jeddah. The Mercedes driver opted for medium tyres however with sloppy mistakes on turns one, two and four, the 37-year-old was left with a mountain to climb in an attempt to make it to the second section. Despite a resilient effort, Hamilton wasn't able to make up ground and will now start 16th on the grid for Sunday's (March 27) race - a major disappointment for the seasoned winner. His Mercedes counterpart George Russell did provide some damaged limitation for Toto Wolff and co however as he finished in fourth to advance to the second stage of qualifying. Hamilton was also the victim of a hateful tweet earlier in the day which had been sent by a one of the F1 marshal's working at the circuit in Saudi Arabia. The message however was later deleted and the marshal has since resigned after issuing Hamilton an apology on Twitter. https://twitter.com/SportsJOE_UK/status/1507752251976261632

Will the race be going ahead?

There are still some question marks as to whether or not the Grand Prix will go ahead as drivers remain concerned by the ongoing attacks taking place near the track. Following a four-hour meeting between drivers and senior race figures after Friday's practice session, that went on into the early hours of the morning, it was decided that the race would go ahead. Both Saudi government representatives and F1 officials declared that it was safe to race despite some of the strikes coming as closely as nine miles away from the track in Jeddah. Related links:

• F1 marshal forced to quit job after sending sickening tweet to Lewis Hamilton
• Saudi Arabia Grand Prix to go ahead despite missile strike after F1 drivers agree to race
• Fire breaks out at Jeddah oil depot ahead of Saudi Arabia Grand Prix