The second round of the 2021 championship is finally here. The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix’s qualifying was quite a roller coaster. No one expected it to pan out the way it did; however, everyone is glad that it did.

So, what will the grid look like for today’s race?

The starting grid for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but Lewis Hamilton took pole position, making it his 99th of his career. Red Bull’s latest recruit, Perez came in second with a lap time of 1:14.446, while his Dutch teammate, Max Verstappen, landed third with a 1:14.498 lap time.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc also impressed some at the quali for the Italian team’s home Grand Prix, followed by France’s Pierre Gasly in fifth place. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo will start the race in sixth alongside his new teammate Lando Norris, who sits in seventh.

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Valtteri Bottas didn’t have the best time on Saturday and will see the five red lights from eighth place. Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll make the top 10, respectively.

Carlos Sainz will have to start from a disappointing eleventh, while George Russell will start in 12th place and will give company to Germany’s Sebastian Vettel, who sits in 13th place.

Nicholas Latifi saw Q2 for the first time and sits in 14th place, Fernando Alonso’s will begin the race in 15th place. Raikkonen and Giovinazzi sit in 16th and 17th place, respectively.

Both Haas rookies, Schumacher and Mazepin will start the second race of their debut season in 18th and 19th place, while Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda will start from dead last, owing to his crash in the first qualifying session.

Sergio Perez thinks he could have done better in qualifying

Sergio is certainly a talented driver on the Formula One grid. The Mexican driver surprised everyone when placed the Red Bull in P2 behind Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and also beat Verstappen. However, he was disappointed not to start from first place.

After the qualifying session, Perez said, “I should have been on pole today; I did a mistake on my final corner. I think it’s everything positive. We just have to make sure that we keep progressing tomorrow is what matters.”

The seven-time world champion will be well aware of both the Red Bulls in his rearview mirror, but can Perez defeat Hamilton and take his first win for himself and the Milton-Keynes-based outfit? We are just hours away from finding out.

Read More: Emilia Romagna GP: Mazepin Annoyed by Mick Schumacher’s F1 Lap Times at Imola