VERSTAPPEN GOES TWO-FOR-TWO IN SAUDI ARABIA

Max Verstappen has headed an Oracle Red Bull Racing 1-2 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Charles Lerclerc completed the podium for Ferrari, whilst his eighteen-year-old teammate for the weekend, Oliver Bearman, headed Lando Norris and scored six points on debut.

While Verstappen and Leclerc lined up on the front row, all eyes were focussed on Bearman as the Prema F2 driver prepared for his first Grand Prix. It was a sudden call-up for the British youngster after Carlos Sainz had been diagnosed with appendicitis and underwent surgery.

As the race began it was Verstappen who had a clear run to the first corner as Leclerc had to contend with the second Oracle Rad Bull of Sergio Perez.

The pair exchanged places before Leclerc gained the upper hand at Turn 3. By then the #1 of Verstappen had already established a gap to the rest of the field.

Oscar Piastri sat behind Alonso in fifth, with teammate Norris a little further behind after a slight creep on the line led to a slow getaway for the British driver.

Piastri moved into fourth on Lap 2, while Perez claimed second a couple of laps later as the race began to settle down for a long stint on the mainly medium tyre. Those plans suddenly changed a  lap later.

Lance Stroll had ploughed into the barriers at turn 23 after clipping the inside wall with his left front at the exit of the previous corner.

“I hit the wall,” Stroll told the team.

“Can you bring it back?” they asked.

“No, I’m in the wall!” was his blunt reply.

The subsequent Safety Car intervention triggered an avalanche of pit lane activity as most cars were fitted with the hard compound tyres.

Norris and Hamilton were amongst the minority that gambled on track position and another Safety Car some time later.

As the race resumed on Lap 10 it was Norris from Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, Leclerc and Piastri.

Verstappen reclaimed the lead on Lap 13, while Perez and then Leclerc moved into second and third over the ensuing laps. Piastri had moved under the rear wing of Hamilton’s Mercedes AMG Petronas F1, but found difficulty in completing the pass.

He twice moved ahead of the #44. only to run wide at the following corner and give the position back. His cause was finally aided by Hamilton’s pit stop, which brought the Australian up to fourth.

Fellow Aussie, Daniel Ricciardo had a less successful day. After starting from 14th on the grid, the RB driver lost a couple of places in the opening laps. A forty second pitstop during the Safety Car period dropped him to the tail of the field.

Ricciardo moved back towards the mid-pack as the race progressed, but like so many others he found overtaking to be nigh impossible amidst a DRS freight train. A Haas orchestrated road block that featured Kevin Magnussen did wonders for teammate Hulkenberg, much to the dissatisfaction of Yuki Tsunoda and those close behind.

A late spin for Ricciardo summed up a rather unpredictable weekend for the Australian, though he still managed to find a fast lap than teammate Tsunodo, who eventually finished just one place ahead.

Max Verstappen cruised to a comfortable win, with Perez completing the ideal secondary role to keep Leclerc back in third.

Piastri finished fourth, ahead of Alonso, Russell, Bearman, Norris, Hamilton and Hulkenberg.

“P4! I think that’s definitely the most we could have got out of that race, and we executed it well,”Piastri told McLaren Media.

“It was a bit frustrating being stuck behind Lewis Hamilton for so long, but I think that was the most amount of points we could have got this weekend, so, I’m very happy.”

The post-race comments from Max Verstappen must sound the warning to other teams if the Oracle Red Bull Racing Team truly haven’t yet established the true potential of their already dominant RB20.

“It was great to get my 100th podium today and it was another great race for us this weekend,” Verstappen said to Oracle Red Bull Media. “

I am very happy to win here in Jeddah: it has been a great start to the year and we don’t know the full potential of the car yet so now we want to keep the momentum going.

Debutante Bearman, admitted to being ‘destroyed’ at the conclusion of a memorable Grand Prix debut.

“Destroyed,” Bearman replaied when asked how he felt.

“Physically it was a really difficult race! Especially in the end, when I had the two guys on soft behind me, I had to basically push flat out and it was a mentally difficult race as expected, and physically I was struggling too, but great fun out there.”

The Formula 1 World Championship heads down under for Round 3 in just a couple of weeks.

Photos: Oracle Red Bull Racing FB

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