For those of you familiar with the proverb, 'for the sake of a nail the Kingdom was lost', we cannot help wondering if the 2021 equivalent, in terms of the world championship, that might read, 'for the sake of a needless mistake at Turn 27 the title was lost...'
It is widely estimated that had he not made that error Max Verstappen would have grabbed pole by almost half a second over title rival Lewis Hamilton, but it was not to be.
It was an amazing lap, and even the seven-time world champion was impressed.
As a result, Max starts from third while Mercedes locks-out the front row for the sixth time this season.
Despite this, it is not all over for Verstappen, however his job is made that much more difficult, certainly in terms of wrapping up the title this weekend.
However, perhaps we are getting a little ahead of ourselves for, as we have seen in the support races, anything can, and probably will happen here today.
Sergio Perez says the Jeddah track is "too dangerous without a real reason", and we totally agree.
Indeed, as Anthony Davidson poo-pooed such suggestions yesterday we wondered if he was talking as a driver or a TV pundit eyeing viewing figures.
All focus appears to have been on speed while the reality is something akin to a Hot Wheels track with as much opportunity for overtaking and blind corner after blind corner.
Right at the start of the weekend we described this track as an accident waiting to happen, and without wishing to sound maudlin nothing we've seen thus far has changed our opinion, far from it.
Indeed, this is style over substance, a track almost crafted for the Drive to Survive viewer.
Indeed, as opposed to getting bogged down in the various permutations that could decide one of the titles today, we will be happy to get the race done safely and move on. Never, in all our days, did we anticipate looking forward to Abu Dhabi.
Due to these genuine fears over track safety - and we prepare this intro as the F2 feature race is delayed and subsequently abandoned following three incidents including a horrific start-line clash involving Theo Pourchaire and Enzo Fittipaldi - we are not going to ponder the battle for the title or even that between Ferrari and McLaren or Alpine and AlphaTauri. Indeed, not wishing to 'do a Murray Walker' and tempt fate we're going to see how things play out and hope our fears are unfounded.
Mind you, however things unfold today in terms of red flags, safety cars and VSCs, we do not envisage Michael Masi facing the same issue as his counterpart at Bathurst where the safety car was deployed as a result of an echidna wandering on to the track.
An hour before the race the teams gather on the grid for a tribute to Sir Frank Williams who passed away last weekend. It's a poignant moment as the sport bids farewell to another of the old guard.
In parc ferme, a number of changes have been carried out to various cars, and for that of a certain Dutchman... Front wing/nose assembly, RHS rear trackrod, RHS rear top wishbone, RHS rear lower wishbone, RHS rear upright assembly, LHS front upright gaitor, PAS rack, Rear brake friction material, Parameter changes associated with RHS rear corner replacement and Parameter changes associated with brake friction material replacement... but no new driveshaft, no new gearbox.
That said however, let's not forget Monaco where Ferrari opted not to change the gearbox on Leclerc's car following his Q3 crash... only to see him fail to make it to the grid next day.
Today should be a one-stopper. The fastest one-stopper should be from medium to hard, which the majority of drivers look set to select - as can be seen by nearly all the frontrunners, bar Norris, who chose to get through Q2 on the medium compound.
Starting on the medium gives more options as it leaves the door open to either a one or a two-stopper, and it also enables drivers to run a relatively long first stint, with a wide pit stop window. An alternative is a soft to hard strategy, which is just as quick on paper but might need a little bit more management, depending on the car.
A two-stopper is distinctly slower, but the fastest should be using all the compounds: one stint on the medium, followed by one on the hard and the last on soft.
However, it might not be as straightforward as that. With Jeddah being a brand new circuit, there are still a number of unknown factors to consider: and one of them might be the seemingly high probability of a safety car. If that's the case, then it could make a 'free' pit stop possible.
The pitlane opens and the drivers head out, one of the first being Verstappen. Indeed, the Dutchman gives it 'full welly' in a bid to stretch his gearbox before things get serious.
Ahead of the formation lap the air temperature is 29 degrees C, while the track temperature is 32 degrees. Risk of rain is 0%.
Other than Norris nobody is on the softs, while Raikkonen, Alonso, Russell, Latifi, Stroll, Schumacher and Mazepin join the majority of the leading ten in choosing the mediums, while Ricciardo, Sainz and Vettel go hard.
They head off on the formation lap, all getting away cleanly.
The grid forms, albeit very slowly.
They're away!
The Mercedes pair hold position, Bottas covering Verstappen as he makes a move on the run to Turn 1. Behind, Perez nearly collects his teammate as he locks-up into Turn 1. The Mexican loses ground and is passed by Leclerc
Tsunoda, who has had a poor start, backs off in a battle with Alonso.
At the end of lap 1, it's: Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Leclerc, Perez, Norris, Ocon, Gasly, Ricciardo and Giovinazzi. A nice move sees Sainz nail Raikkonen for 13th.
The stewards have noted an incident involving Stroll and Russell at Turn 7.
After two laps Hamilton leads by 1.5s with Verstappen 1.2s down on Bottas.
Sainz passes Tsunoda for 12th, his next target being Giovinazzi who has been passed by Alonso.
"I could do with a bit more gap in front," says Bottas, who is unhappy running in his teammate's dirty air. However, said teammate is setting a strong pace, posting a string of fastest laps.
Ricciardo passes Alonso and immediately sets about Gasly, as Alonso loses out to Giovinazzi in a great move by the Italian.
Ricciardo passes Gasly on the main straight as Sainz nails countryman Alonso for 11th.
Alonso reports a number of issues with his car, mainly concerning the hybrid features.
Lap 8 sees Hamilton post another fastest lap (33.214) as he builds a 2.565s lead.
The safety car is deployed when Schumacher goes into the barriers at Turn 21 after losing the rear of the car on entry. Asked if he is okay, the youngster sighs: "Yes, I'm OK, sorry about that."
Russell and Stroll are the first to take the opportunity to pit.
"We are going to box, box," Hamilton is told. The Briton duly obliges, as does Bottas. Indeed, as Verstappen stays out, Leclerc, Perez, Norris, Alonso and Latifi all pit.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Jeddah, here.
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