SAUDI ARABIAN GP – Max Verstappen out-duals Charles Leclerc to take victory by half a second
Max Verstappen has beaten Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in a closely fought battle to win the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix by half a second. The two drivers fought hard through out the race and in the closing stages of the race the Dutchman closed up and took a leap forward when the Ferrari had oversteer aided by DRS on lap forty-six he lunged past into Turn One.
Verstappen’s victory came following a hard battle which Leclerc said “pushing to the limit,” but the battle was largely clean as they both made a mistake a few laps earlier. The deceive move came with four laps to go when the Verstappen found a way past the described as a “nice move” by his rival.
Verstappen added: “I’m really happy that we’ve finally kick-started the season.” A weekend were the battle was overshadowed by security concerns following a missile strike on an oil depot is likely to continue to be on the minds of the sport. It could be already shaping up to be an epic battle between the two teams.
The Red Bull driver’s victory comes on the anniversary of his father’s debut in 1994 at Interlagos, however, all the drivers have been placed under investigation for failing to slow under yellow flag. The battle highlighting the success of these new regulations as they were able to follow each other a lot more closely, with them not needing or complaining about not being able to follow.
But Verstappen, while angry on team radio, kept focused on the track and steamed up behind Leclerc in a clearly quicker Red Bull in the closing stages, and passed Leclerc into Turn 1.
The Red Bulls appeared to enjoy the stronger launches as Perez pulled over to cover second-starting Leclerc into Turn One but was largely unchallenged as Verstappen provided stiff competition to Sainz.
The battle was almost farcical at stages as both drivers tried to stop and break the DRS advantage, it saw them trading each other off. Leclerc had planned to run longer into the race with the belief of extra pace, which was turned on the head when Nicolas Latifi crashed bringing out the safety car on lap seventeen.
Latifi getting on the power too early and clattering into the wall, then Leclerc nailed the restart to lead by half a second at the halfway stage. This followed a free stop for Leclerc and Verstappen, with the gap stabilising about a second.
Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz couldn’t join the battle at the front as the leaders played chicken in the final ten laps, the Spaniard finishing the race eight seconds behind Verstappen. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez lead early on after converting his maiden pole into the lead before losing out with the timing of the safety car.
George Russell brought his Mercedes home in fifth as he finished just over a second ahead of Esteban Ocon. Russell drove what appeared to be a consistent race in fifth being unchallenged but the Mercedes was still struggling for the pace to match the leaders.
Ocon finished sixth the Frenchman having a thrilling battle early on in the race as he fought with his alpine teammate Fernando Alonso for position.
Alonso brought out the safety car along with the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo with twelve laps to go, both cars almost simultaneously stopping as they approached the pit lane. However, that battle which had lasted most of the race, came to an end with the two-times champions car over heating on Lap Thirty-Six.
Alpine also deciding to halt the battle.
There could be yet more drama this evening, however, with stewards stating they are investigating the final two laps with many drivers presumably not slowing down sufficiently under double waved yellows after Alex Albon’s crash. Lando Norris brought his McLaren home in seventh finishing six seconds ahead of Pierre Gasly. While Kevin Magnussen finished ninth.
A strong strategy by Mercedes saw Lewis Hamilton come from his worst qualifying on pure pace in a decade, to finish tenth. But it could have been a better result, Alonso and Ricciardo’s stopping on track in the pitlane entry preventing the Englishman from taking advantage of the safety car to make a free stop.
Guanyu Zuho had a difficult race on his way to eleventh, the Alfa Romeo driver earned a five second stop and go for not serving an early penalty, finishing ahead of the two Aston Martins. Nico Hulkenberg the final car on the lead lap, nine and a half seconds behind Zuho.
A late collision between Lance Stroll and Alex Albon saw the Canadian limp home a lap down while Albon retire. The collision led to most drivers being placed under investigation for seemingly not slowing down sufficiently under double-waved yellows after Alex Albon’s crash, no action was taken. Although Albon was given a three place penalty for Melbourne.
The two non-starters were Yuki Tsunoda who Alpha Tauri ground to a halt on the way to the grid, the Japanese driver failed to qualify after a water system issue on Saturday, while Haas withdrew Mick Schumacher following his crash in qualifying.
Related
Saudi Arabian GP – Qualifying Results
- SAUDI ARABIAN GP – Charles Leclerc Set The Pace A Tenth And A Half Faster Than Max Verstappen In Second Practice
- SAUDI ARABIA GP – Charles Leclerc fastest in first practice a tenth ahead of Max Verstappen
- F1 Today – Saudi Arabia Prixview – 24/03/2022
- PRIXVIEW – Saudi Arabian Grand Prix