Mick Schumacher has reportedly had to be lifted out of his car after a horrific 170m/h (270km/h) crash during qualifying which rocked the grid. 

It comes as Red Bull will start in pole, as Sergio Perez shocked the F1 with his first-ever pole position in his 215th race weekend, a new record for the most races for a driver qualify in first. 

But Schumacher, who had made it into the second qualifying session after he was the 14th fastest in the first session, was driving downhill at high speed when he hit a kerb and crashed heavily into the wall, pausing qualifying for an hour for the extensive cleanup. 

Two tyres were ripped off the car in the heavy crash. 

There was strong concern for the driver who stayed in his cockpit and didn't get out of the car but he was able to remove his won gloves. 

News quickly filtered out that Schumacher was "conscious and talking to doctors" but was quickly taken via ambulance from the track and airlifted to hospital for checks. 

The incident was compared to former Haas driver Romain Grosjean's horrific 2020 crash but there was no fireball in the Schumacher smash. 

Grosjean tweeted immediately after the incident: "Hoping for good news soon." 

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner confirmed that Schumacher appeared relatively unscathed but that they were taking no chances with the 23-year-old. 

"I didn't speak with him directly; he's spoken to his mum. I spoke with his mum a few times and kept her updated. 

"He has no injuries which you can see, they just wanted to check on him and do some scans to see that there's no damage from the impact and the forces. 

"It seems like he's gone on the kerb and just lost the car. We just lost all the data immediately on the impact, we had no contact with him after the contact." 

Mick is the son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher, who suffered a traumatic brain injury after a skiing accident in 2013 and his condition has been kept shrouded in secrecy for years. 

Mick Schumacher of Germany and Haas F1 is extracted from his car after a crash during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia. Photo / Getty Images. 

Former world champion and Sky Sports commentator Jenson Button said it was hard for the drivers to witness such a major incident. 

"It is really tough and the drivers will be hoping that they hear how Mick is before they head out for the last run of Q2," Button says. 

Mercedes' seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was interviewed after he was eliminated in Q1 for the first time for pure speed since 2009, and could only ask about Schumacher's condition. 

"I heard the news, I hope he's okay," Hamilton said as he was clearly disturbed by what he had seen. 

Paul di Resta said it was "as big a hit as you're going to see in Formula One". 

It had been the second red flag of the session after Williams' Nicholas Latifi suffered a big shunt in Q1. 

It continues a controversial weekend after players were critical about the track and difficulty with visibility on the street circuit. 

The race was also threatened as an attack on an oil refinery on Friday left the F1 to post a defiant message not to scrap the weekend altogether. 

The F1 was already in shock after Lewis Hamilton was out in Q1. 

"Speechless, that's just staggering," Button said of Hamilton's early exit. 

"Just one tenth quicker than Albon in P17, so that's a massive disappointment for Lewis. 

"I thought that if anyone could do it on a last lap, five laps in, it's Lewis Hamilton. He gave it his all, but he's out." 

Di Resta added: ""That's not the Lewis Hamilton we know. There must be something within that car that's not right." 

Mick Schumacher of Germany driving the (47) Haas F1 VF-22 Ferrari on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia. Photo / Getty Images. 

Hamilton said Mercedes still had plenty to do. 

"Just struggled with the balance of the car, it's not where we want to be," he said. 

"We're professional, we lock out whatever it needs. Just unfortunately we went the wrong way with the set up." 

While both McLaren's made it into Q2, Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris will start in P12 and P11 respectively after being unable to improve enough upon the restart. 

Perez delivered a stunning final lap to claim pole, pushing Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz back to second and third, while Max Verstappen finished fourth. 

"What a lap," Perez said. 

"I can do a 1,000 laps and I don't think I can beat that lap, it was unbelievable. 

"We were not really expecting too much from qualifying, we were focusing mainly on the race, so hopefully we get them tomorrow." 

Starting grid for Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 

Row 1: Sergio Perez, Red Bull - Charles Leclerc, Ferrari 

Row 2: Carlos Sainz, Ferrari - Max Verstappen, Red Bull 

Row 3: Esteban Ocon, Alpine - George Russell, Mercedes 

Row 4: Fernando Alonso, Alpine - Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo 

Row 5: Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri - Kevin Magnussen, Haas 

Row 6: Lando Norris, McLaren – Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren 

Row 7: Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo – Mick Schumacher, Haas 

Row 8: Lance Stroll, Aston Martin – Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 

Row 9: Alex Albon, Williams – Nico Hulkenberg, Aston Martin 

Row 10: Nicholas Latifi, Williams – Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri