@Max33Verstappen takes dominant #SaudiArabianGP victory. #F1
Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB20, celebrates with his team after clinching victory at the Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024, Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Image credit to Clive Rose/Getty Images. Verstappen Saudi Arabian GP, Verstappen wins Saudi Arabia, 2024 Saudi Arabian GP Results, 2024 F1 Saudi Arabian GP Results. 2024 Australian GP Preview, 2024 Aus GP Preview, F1 Australian GP Preview, 2024 Formula 1 Australian GP Preview.
Verstappen Saudi Arabian GP Victory – Reigning world champion Max Verstappen lead from team-mate Sergio Perez to claim a dominant victory at the Saudi Arabian GP in a Red Bull one-two as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc came home third and taking the fastest lap bonus point.
This was the ninth victory in a row for Verstappen and the 56th of his career.
When the 50-lap Saudi Arabian GP began, polesitter Verstappen and covered Leclerc into the opening corner whilst Perez jumped the Ferrari into turn one to take second.
In the following corner, Leclerc re-took second place from Perez.
Behind the leaders, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was called to retire early after a gearbox issue.
At the end of the opening tour, Verstappen held a one second lead over Leclerc, with Perez holding third, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri third, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso overtaking the other McLaren of Lando Norris on the inside before reaching turn one to grab fifth place.
At the beginning of lap four with DRS assistance on the main straight, Perez reclaimed second place from Leclerc passing the Ferrari from the inside into turn one.
Lap five saw Verstappen’s lead up to 2.498 seconds over team-mate Perez with Leclerc third, Piastri fourth and Alonso rounding out the top five runners.
On lap six, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll tapped the wall with his front-left tyre damaging his suspension and crashed into the turn one barrier with his front wing falling onto the exit of turn two with yellow flags brought out.
Then a tour later, the safety car was deployed to clear Stroll’s AMR24 and to clear the debris.
Lap eight saw Norris remain out on track whilst race leader Verstappen pitted and emerged in second, Hamilton moves up into third opting not to pit, with Perez fourth, Leclerc fifth, Piastri sixth, Alonso seventh, Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg eighth, Mercedes’ George Russell ninth as the other Haas VF-24 of Kevin Magnussen rounded out the top ten.
When the race restarted on lap 10, Norris covered the RB20’s of Verstappen and Perez into the opening corner whilst behind them Leclerc kept Piastri at bay to hold fifth place.
On the 12th tour, Verstappen was in DRS range of the yet-to-pit race leader Norris, with Hamilton third, Perez fourth as Leclerc completed the top five.
Race control noted an unsafe release for Perez during the safety car pit-stop phase whilst Norris is also under investigation for jumping the start.
The following lap saw Verstappen with DRS assistance on the main-straight make a lunge up the inside of Norris into turn one to reclaim first place.
A tour later, Russell made his way past Hulkenberg to take eighth place performing the same move as Verstappen into turn one meanwhile Ferrari’s Oliver Bearman jumped up into tenth place overtaking Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu doing likewise.
Lap 15 saw with DRS assistance in the battle for fourth place Leclerc with DRS assistance go around the outside of Hamilton into turn one and squeezed passes the Briton on the exit of turn two move up a place.
A lap later, third-placed Perez was given a five-second time penalty for his unsafe pit release whilst Haas’s Magnussen was given a 10-second time penalty for his collision with Williams’ Alexander Albon.
On lap 17, Verstappen’s gap to second-place Norris was up to 4.110 seconds with Perez close behind the McLaren in third, Leclerc holding fourth as Hamilton held Piastri at bay in the fight for fifth spot with the latter having to give the place back after running through the turns one and two corners.
In the battle for second on the 18th lap with DRS assistance Perez passed the yet-to-pit McLaren of Norris on the main-straight before reaching turn one to make it a Red Bull one-two.
Leclerc was next to chase down Norris whilst Hamilton was still clinging onto fifth place ahead of Piastri with Alonso and Russell not too far behind.
A tour later, Bearman was in the fight for ninth-place with the yet-to-pit Hulkenberg. The former got passed the German at turn 27, but Hulkenberg got the place back with DRS assistance into turn one.
Then the following lap with DRS assistance on the main-straight Bearman overtook Hulkenberg to make the move stick to snatch ninth place.
On lap 22, Magnussen was hit with another 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in the battle for 12th place with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda.
Lap 24 in the fight for fifth, Piastri was ever closer with DRS range to Hamilton, but once again the latter covered the MCL38 entry into turn one.
At the halfway race distance, Verstappen’s lead over team-mate Perez was up to 6.640 seconds with Norris third, Leclerc closely behind the McLaren in fourth and the two battling Mercedes of Hamilton and the second McLaren of Piastri in fifth and sixth places respectively.
On lap 27, Leclerc with DRS assistance on the pit-straight made a lunge and breezed up the inside to overtake the yet-to-pit Norris to climb back into third place.
On the next tour, Magnussen was intensifying the battle of the midfield in 12th place with a massive train behind him with Tsunoda, the sole Alpine of Esteban Ocon and the two Williams FW46 entries of Alexander Albon behind them.
Lap 29 saw Tsunoda move up into 12th, but Magnussen got his elbows out and covered the Japanese driver to hold the place.
The race order on lap 30 saw Verstappen’s lead increase to 7.5 seconds over Red Bull team-mate Perez with Leclerc third, the two yet-to-pit Norris and Hamilton in fourth and fifth respectively as Piastri rounded out the top six runners.
The battle for 12th place continued to heat up a tour later, as Magnussen had been trying to slow the field down. Tsunoda wanted none of that, so he made a move, but overcooked it and runs off – letting not just Magnussen back through, but Ocon as well with Tsunoda yelling “What dangerous driving,” with frustration over the radio.
A tour later, Magnussen’s race engineer told the Dane to “keep at it”.
On lap 33, Albon with DRS assistance breezed his way past Tsunoda to take 14th in the midfield train with Magnussen holding up that pack of cars.
Meanwhile on lap 34, Hulkenberg pitted for his fresh set of hards and emerged in 11th place two seconds in-front of team-mate Magnussen.
With 15 tours remaining, Verstappen’s lead was up to 8.202 seconds over Perez with Leclerc a distant third, Norris fourth as behind them Piastri with DRS made his way ahead of Hamilton into turn one but ran too hot and went into the run-off area once again and Hamilton re-took fifth place.
On lap 37, Hamilton made his pit-stop from fifth place for a fresh set of softs and emerged in ninth place behind Bearman.
Meanwhile on lap 38, McLaren pitted Norris from fourth to cover Hamilton and the Briton was also given a set of softs to come out in-front of his fellow British-compatriot in eighth place.
A tour later, Hamilton got the fastest lap of the Grand Prix with a 1:31.746 and was weaving behind the McLaren of Norris in the battle for eighth.
With ten laps remaining, Verstappen’s lead was at 8.582 seconds over Perez with Leclerc third, Piastri fourth and Alonso completing the top five.
On lap 41, the race stewards noted Norris for weaving down the main-straight in his battle with Hamilton and the former was given a black and white flag for doing so.
On lap 43, Zhou finally pitted and suffered a slow stop on his front-right tyre, which put Hulkenberg back into the points as the former emerged in 18th place behind Sauber team-mate Bottas.
In the battle for seventh on lap 45, Bearman was sounding worried with a rapid McLaren and Mercedes of Norris and Hamilton pushing to catch the Ferrari, but the former’s race engineer assured him that he could potentially hold on.
The gap was 2.251 seconds between Bearman and Norris on lap 48, the former looked likely to hold onto seventh-place in his first Grand Prix as a replacement until Sainz before he returns for the Australian Grand Prix.
Verstappen crossed the line take the Saudi Arabian GP by 13.643 seconds over Perez who was hit with his five-second time penalty added onto his race-finish time with Leclerc holding the final podium place and the fastest lap bonus point.
McLaren’s Piastri came home fourth and in-front of Aston Martin’s Alonso who was fifth, Mercedes’ Russell who took sixth.
Bearman took a brilliant seventh place in his debut weekend for Ferrari as a last-minute substitute for the ill Carlos Sainz and in-front of Norris who finished eighth, Hamilton who ended the Grand Prix ninth as Hulkenberg rounded out the final points place.
Williams’ Albon finished outside the top ten in 11th place and ahead of Haas’s Magnussen who took 12th and Alpine’s Ocon who came 13th in the classification.
The two RB’s of Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo ended the race in 14th and 16th respectively as Williams’ Sargeant split the duo in 15th.
The two Kick Sauber’s of Bottas and Zhou brought up the rear.
2024 Saudi Arabian GP – The Top Three
2024 Saudi Arabian GP Winner – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB20:
“I think overall a fantastic weekend for the whole team but also for myself as I felt great in the car. The last few laps with the backmarkers and old tyres was a bit slippery, but we could manage it with the gap behind. Ideally you don’t want to do such a long stint with the tyre, but we had to.”
2nd Place – Sergio Perez, #11, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB20, +13.543s:
“We definitely made some good progress, it was a shame we qualified out of the front row as Charles made it tough to get through, and it was a compromised race with the Safety Car so early. It’s a great day for the team, we just have to keep this momentum going – we still have some bits to tidy up, but our time will come.”
3rd Place – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF-24, +18.639s:
“We had quite a good pace, as I got the fastest lap at the end. It was a bit of a boring race as Red Bull were too quick and behind, we had a gap, but we took the maximum points we could today. All in all, it’s definitely one of the most physical race tracks of the season, it’s very warm but also with the neck. [Bearman] has done an incredible job, I think today he’s been incredible – seventh in your first race having only done FP3 is very impressive.”
Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024 Race Results Classification (50 Laps)
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 50 | 1:20:43.273 | 25 |
| 2 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 50 | +13.643s | 18 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 50 | +18.639s | 16 |
| 4 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 50 | +32.007s | 12 |
| 5 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 50 | +35.759s | 10 |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 50 | +39.936s | 8 |
| 7 | 38 | Oliver Bearman | FERRARI | 50 | +42.679s | 6 |
| 8 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 50 | +45.708s | 4 |
| 9 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 50 | +47.391s | 2 |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 50 | +76.996s | 1 |
| 11 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 50 | +88.354s | 0 |
| 12 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 50 | +105.737s | 0 |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 49 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 14 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB HONDA RBPT | 49 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 15 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 49 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 16 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB HONDA RBPT | 49 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 17 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 49 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 18 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 49 | +1 lap | 0 |
| NC | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 5 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPINE RENAULT | 1 | DNF | 0 |
* Provisional results. Note – Leclerc scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.
https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2024/races/1230/saudi-arabia/race-result.html
Click here for the 2024 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructors Championship Standings.
Round three of the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the streets of Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia for the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix 2024 from Friday March 22-Sunday March 24.
#F1 #SaudiArabianGP Qualifying: @Max33Verstappen scores 34th-career pole.
#F1 #SaudiArabianGP FP3: @Max33Verstappen tops time-sheets in red-flag shortened session.
#F1 #SaudiArabianGP FP2: @alo_oficial pips @GeorgeRussell63 by 0.230s.
#SaudiArabianGP FP1: @Max33Verstappen quickest ahead of @Alo_Oficial, #Perez. #F1
#F1 STC #SaudiArabianGP 2024 Race Preview. #Formula1 #SaudiArabiaGP
