Max Verstappen (P2, Fastest lap, 19 pts): 9/10
Top in first practice, quickest in second practice, fastest in final practice - it seemed to be a done deal that Max Verstappen would take pole in qualifying and speed off to victory on Sunday night. But it just shows that in Formula 1 there is no such thing as a done deal. The horror on the faces of the Red Bull mechanics as they registered that Verstappen had suffered a driveshaft failure on the RB19 was a picture that painted a thousand words, a high percentage of which were expletives. And yet such is the extent of the team's domination even this early in 2023, the jokes were soon flying around about whether it would take Verstappen four laps or five to get to the lead. Maybe six if he was having a laid back day? But again, there was a surprise: it didn't prove as easy for Verstappen to get through the traffic as he expected, and by the time the safety car was scrambled for Lance Stroll's retirement on lap 18 he was 'only' up to fourth. Pitting under the caution meant he was soon able to charge past George Russell and Fernando Alonso, and then it was just his team mate Sergio Perez between him and victory. Maybe he thought that the Red Bull pit wall would order Perez to pull over and wait for him to pass, but it never happened. Perez was in no mood to give an inch: anytime Verstappen put in a new flying lap and shaved a couple of tenths off the gap between then, Perez would respond in kind. Finally it dawned on Verstappen that it wasn't going to happen - that he would never lead the race today - and he settled for getting the point for fastest lap instead. But by 'settled', we mean that he was not at all happy as he sat with a face like thunder in the post-race media interviews.
Sergio Perez (Pole, P1, 25 pts): 9.5/10
Max Verstappen might have been in top form throughout practice in Saudi Arabia, but Sergio Perez was also looking strong right from the get-go as well. He was less than three tenths off Verstappen's imperious pace at the end of Friday's sessions, and while Fernando Alonso was an ever-present threat it looked like a reasonable bet that Perez would be alongside Verstappen for a second successive Red Bull front row lock-out of 2023. Instead, Verstappen was no where to be seen after suffering a driveshaft failure at the start of the second round of qualifying. Perez still played his part and claimed pole by almost half a second over Alonso (after Charles Leclerc was ejected from the top ten by a grid penalty). But he didn't get a great start, and immediately lost the lead to Alonso into the first corner. No need to panic: Perez knew it was just a matter of time before he got the place back just four laps later. When the race resumed after a safety car, Perez wasted no time in pulling away as fast as possible - but it wasn't Alonso he was worried about now, but rather Verstappen who was carving his way back to the front. If he got too close then Red Bull would inevitably contemplate issuing team orders to force Perez who hand over the position, and the Mexican wasn't having it. Anything Verstappen threw at him to close the gap, Perez responded in kind until the penny dropped all round: Perez was determined to win this whatever he was told to do. And so he did, and deservedly too.
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