So far, Formula One 2024 looks like Formula One 2023 as Red Bull executes yet another sweep.
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia—Red Bull Racing finished with a 1-2 finish for the second time in two races this season, this time on Saturday evening at the STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen took an eight-second victory over teammate Sergio Perez, winning his ninth consecutive Grand Prix race. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took third.
Max Verstappen: Overall, it was a fantastic weekend for the whole team, myself, and the car. I felt really good. The last few laps were with those back markers with the cold tires–a little slippery–but we had a good pace all around and could manage it quite well. Overall, we are very pleased.
Verstappen took the lead right from the start of the race, and despite his only pit stop, the Dutchman never lost the lead during the event, having no threat from any other driver. Perez lost his position to Leclerc at the beginning of the race, but he passed the Monegasque quickly on lap four and did not give up his second-place position for the rest of the race. Perez was handed a five-second penalty for an unsafe pit release, but it did not affect his finish.
McLaren had a good evening, placing Oscar Piastri fourth and Lando Norris eighth. Norris finished ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s ninth-place Mercedes. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso took fifth ahead of George Russell’s second Mercedes. The final point position went to Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas.
The big story of the evening went to Ferrari’s Olivier Bearman, substituting for Carlos Sainz, who had his appendix removed just the previous evening and could not participate. The 18-year-old Briton had a fantastic race in a car that he only drove for a few hours and took seventh.
Two drivers failed to finish the race. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly encountered gearbox issues and retired the car on the second lap. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll struck his left front wheel on the barriers in sector three and crashed, bringing out the only safety car of the evening that lasted for a couple of laps.
Verstappen described the street circuit as good but very difficult as well. “Ideally, you don’t want to do a long stint on that tire, but we had to, and of course, around here on all these high-speed corners, if a tire falls out of the window a little bit, it makes it more tricky. Early in the season, anti-clockwise, a lot of Gs to hold up; it is one of the more physical ones.”
The field now takes a break before the next race, the Australian Grand Prix at the famed Albert Park circuit, which will be run on March 24.
