Verstappen Dominates Again in Perfect Night for Red Bull
Max Verstappen dominated once again to take a 9th-straight Grand Prix victory whilst teammate Sergio Perez completed a Red Bull 1-2 ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The Biggest Talking Points
At the start, Max Verstappen got off the line well to cover Charles Leclerc off whilst Lando Norris seemingly jumped the start. However, Lando didn’t receive a penalty of any kind and I’m honestly a bit confused as to why not. Anyway, after Pierre Gasly retired on the opening lap due to a gearbox issue, the course of the Race changed around Lap 7 when Lance Stroll hit the wall hard at Turn 22, bringing out the Safety Car. Nearly all of the drivers pit, but the likes of Norris, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Hulkenberg, and Zhou Guanyu all decided against stopping. Also, during all of this, Sergio Perez was given a 5-second time penalty for an unsafe release, but that wouldn’t ultimately hurt his finishing position. This meant the Race restarted with Lando in the lead and despite a decent effort, Max Verstappen was able to get through and back into the lead (we never really saw him again) whilst Checo Perez and Charles Leclerc were also able to clear Hamilton. However, the same could not be said for Oscar Piastri who spent a long time being frustrated behind the back of the Mercedes of Hamilton, and it ultimately cost Piastri any chance he had of finishing on the Podium.
Elsewhere, Kevin Magnussen was doing everything in his power to keep cars behind him in order for his teammate Nico Hulkenberg to pit and come out in a points-paying position. Whilst K-Mag did do a good job and this was a brilliant team call from Haas, Magnussen definitely overstepped the mark a few times, whether that be overtaking Yuki Tsunoda off the track or putting Alex Albon in the wall. Kevin ultimately received 20 seconds worth of penalties, but it was probably worth it given Hulk was able to score an important point. Towards the end of the Race, the focus was on whether Oliver Bearman could stay ahead of fellow Brits Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. To start with, it looked nearly impossible for Ollie to stay ahead, but Bearman showed an incredible amount of pace and consistency towards the end to stay ahead of his opponents to take a fantastic P7 in his debut Race!
The Standout Drives in the Race
I’ve given out two 10’s for today’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and the first one is obviously for Max Verstappen. Max looks unstoppable right now and I can’t really see how anyone’s going to stop him. The other driver I’ve given out maximum points to is Oliver Bearman and that’s because I thought Ollie drove a superb race and I’m so, so impressed with him finishing P7! I also thought Sergio Perez can be really happy with P2, Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso got the maximum out of their cars respectively, and Oscar Piastri and Nico Hulkenberg also had really good days.
Drivers who had a Shocker
In total, I’ve only given out one 1 for today’s Race, and that 1 is for Lance Stroll. Lance made a silly error today and he’ll need to make sure that he bounces back in Australia in two weeks time. I also thought Daniel Ricciardo had a pretty poor day whilst Kick Sauber had a pretty awful day that won’t leave either Valtteri Bottas or Zhou Guanyu very happy!
Overall Race Results and My Ratings
Max Verstappen: 10
Sergio Perez: 9
Charles Leclerc: 9 (FL)
Oscar Piastri: 8
Fernando Alonso: 9
George Russell: 6
Oliver Bearman: 10
Lando Norris: 5
Lewis Hamilton: 5
Nico Hulkenberg: 8
Alex Albon: 7
Kevin Magnussen: 4
Esteban Ocon: 5
Yuki Tsunoda: 5
Logan Sargeant: 4
Daniel Ricciardo: 2
Valtteri Bottas: 2
Zhou Guanyu: 2
Lance Stroll: 1 (DNF)
Pierre Gasly: - (DNF)
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