Sergio Perez of Red Bull demonstrated his street circuit prowess dramatically on Sunday by edging his teammate Max Verstappen to win the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. While the top two positions were clear, the next two were unclear long after the race, with Fernando Alonso being stripped of third place and then reinstated in the early hours of Monday morning.
Perez, the 33-year-old Mexican, finished 5.355 seconds ahead of the defending double world champion as Red Bull pulled off a brilliant one-two victory, with the Dutchman storming through the field from 15th on the grid. It was Perez’s fifth career victory, having previously won at Monte Carlo and Singapore to establish his reputation as a ‘street fighter’.
“It turned out to be tougher than expected,” he said. “The safety car tried to take the victory from us again here, but not this year! The team did a great job. Now we must keep pushing.”
Verstappen was forced to withdraw from qualifying due to a drive-shaft issue.
“It wasn’t easy to get through the field,” he said. “We settled for second so it’s a good recovery in the end.”
Alonso claimed his 100th podium finish
On the way to earning his 100th podium result on his record-extending 357th start, two-time world champion Alonso finished an impressive third for Aston Martin.
He was initially removed from that location. For starting outside of his grid position, he has been assessed a five-second fine. Alonso attempted to serve it during a pit stop, but officials determined that a jack had touched the car too quickly and assessed him a 10-second penalty.
For Mercedes, George Russell advanced to third. Aston Martin, though, asked for an investigation and presented stewards films of comparable instances that went unpunished. The sentence was lifted because the Stewards acknowledged that it was unclear whether the offense violated any Formula One rules. Behind in third place were the two Mercedes driven by Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
The Ferraris driven by Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, who started 12th, came next. The following two positions were held by Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly of the Alpine team. The race got underway at the Jeddah Street Circuit in warm weather that was perfect for spectators, drivers, and automobiles.
Alonso’s dream start
Alonso earned the greatest start, despite being too far to the left of his grid slot, as he stormed past Perez to take the lead into turn one. He couldn’t keep it for long and was passed by Perez at the start of lap four in turn one. He’d already received a five-second penalty for his starting-spot blunder.
Behind them, Leclerc began his climb from 12th to seventh by lap eight on soft tires, while Verstappen moved from 15th to 10th and Russell and Stroll settled into third and fourth.
After a mediocre start, Hamilton was warned for weaving on the straight, despite being one of only two drivers on hard tires while the others had mediums. By lap 11, Hamilton was in ninth place, sandwiched behind Leclerc and Verstappen.
On lap 12, the Dutchman passed Hamilton, as Perez set another fastest lap to pull three seconds ahead of Alonso. Yellow flags flew on lap 18 after Stroll obeyed a team order to halt his Aston Martin on the track, prompting a full safety car deployment and a rush to pit for Perez, Alonso, Russell, Verstappen, and Hamilton.
Alonso remained in second place behind Perez despite attempting to serve his penalty during the pit stop. The only front-runner on mediums was Hamilton, who finished sixth; the rest used hards. Verstappen outran Russell on lap 24 after exerting tremendous pressure on him. He had advanced from 15th to second before half-distance when he passed Alonso.
Verstappen reported that his drive shaft was “running a bit rough” with 10 circuits to go after it had forced him to be eliminated from qualifying on Saturday. His complaints about a “long brake pedal” before the final fast laps were finished were allayed by the team, as did Perez’s.