Saudi Arabian GP: Uncatchable Verstappen blitzes rivals

Max Verstappen went virtually unseen in the Saudi Arabian GP on Saturday night in Jeddah, securing his ninth consecutive race win and finishing 13s ahead of Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez, who had been penalised for a near-miss on pit lane with Fernando Alonso.

Having been ousted from second by Perez in the opening laps, Charles Leclerc held on to the final podium place for Ferrari ahead of Oscar Piastri, with Alonso fifth ahead of George Russell. Ferrari super-sub Oliver Bearman finished in P7 and duly took points on his F1 debut.

Pierre Gasly retired at the start with gearbox issues on the Alpine. Lance Stroll crashed on lap 7 triggering a safety car that allowed teams to make an early pit stop to change tyres, although Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton opted to stay out and paid the price when there were no further cautions.

• 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Race results

The sun had set in Jeddah, the lights were on and everyone was making themselves at home on the grid for the start of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the second round of the 2024 Formula 1 season. The front row had a predictable look to it with Max Verstappen on pole for Red Bull and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc alongside him again. For the first time this season there was a rookie in the field as Oliver Bearman lined up in 11th place as one of just two drivers starting on soft tyres. He was sitting in for Carlos Sainz who underwent surgery yesterday for appendicitis: happily the Spaniard was already back in the paddock today, albeit moving a little gingerly.

When the race lights went out, Verstappen got a strong start and leapt away at the front. He left Leclerc battling with Sergio Perez through the opening corners to maintain second place, and Fernando Alonso tussling with Oscar Piastri over fourth. The Aston Martin lost out on lap 3 once DRS was available, and on lap 4 it was time for Perez to breeze past Leclerc and take over second place with Verstappen already 2.4s down the road. Further back, Pierre Gasly became the first retirement having reported a gearbox issue on the formation lap which left him crawling into pit lane to retire at the end of the first lap.

Lance Stroll had got an early jump on Yuki Tsunoda. The pair were being pursued by Bearman who couldn't find a way to pass them after running across the chicane on the first lap. Stroll then made the matter moot when he clipped the inside wall at turn 22 on lap 7 and broke his suspension, sending him into a heavy impact with the barrier. The safety car was soon deployed which prompted a mass lunge to pit lane for a change from medium to hard tyres in order to make it all the way to the finish without further stops.

Both Verstappen and Perez were among those to come in along with Leclerc, Piastri and Alonso, but Norris and Hamilton both opted to remain out on track in order to avoid delays due to 'double staking' behind their respective team mates. There were some close calls on pit lane, including Perez being released from the Red Bull pit box right in front of Alonso who was quick to call the matter to the attention of the race stewards via the Aston Martin team radio.

The race resumed on lap 10 with Norris still on mediums taking point, initially holding off Verstappen and Hamilton. Further back, Bearman - having been among those to move onto the hard compound - took the opportunity to pick off Tsunoda into turn 1, although for now he remained in 11th due to the pit stop reshuffle of the order ahead. Behind him, Kevin Magnussen sustained some light damage to his Haas after running wide at turn 4 fighting over P13 with Williams' Alex Albon, who crumpled his own front wing in the incident. Magnussen was subsequently given a ten-second penalty for causing the collision, and got a second penalty after being deemed to have left the track and gained an advantage battling Tsunoda for 12th in a separate incident.

Lap 13 saw Verstappen take care of business with Norris, returning him to the lead of the race and immediately disappearing down the road. Norris was still in second having been cleared of a potential jump start, but Perez soon got past the yet-to-stop Hamilton - just before the Mexican was handed a five second time penalty for his pit lane near-miss with Alonso. Bearman gained a place on Zhou Guanyu on lap 14 with another good pass into the first corner, and moved ahead of Nico Hulkenberg on lap 21. Meanwhile Leclerc was next to got the jump on Hamilton, leaving Piastri waiting in line to take his run at dispatching the Mercedes only to be thwarted by Hamilton at every turn.

The Red Bulls were firmly out in front despite Perez' penalty. Norris was hanging on to third despite still running his original set of mediums in the hope of a second caution, but on lap 27 he was finally forced to yield to Leclerc. McLaren were busy strategising, asking Norris if he would be able to drive his way back through the field on softs when he did finally make his stop. Norris didn't sound all that sure, but promised to try.

Despite his damage and double penalty, Magnussen had been desperately trying to hold on to 12th place and hold up the cars behind him to open up a slot for Hulkenberg to slot into when he made his own stop for new tyres. On lap 30 Magnussen pulled off what can only be described as a robust defence against Tsunoda which didn't go down well with the RB driver: "What dangerous driving," Tsunoda fumed as he was forced wide, which allowed Ocon past. Four laps later, Alex Albon also pulled off a neat move on the Japanese driver as everyone got increasingly bunched up behind Magnussen, just as Haas had hoped.

His team mate Hulkenberg pitted on lap 34 and narrowly managed to come back out in 11th ahead of Magnussen and that train of cars, for which Magnussen was duly thanked by his race engineer. On lap 37 it was Hamilton's turn to pit having extended his stint long enough to move to soft tyres; he came out behind Russell and Bearman.

Norris responded on the next lap and also opted for softs. Despite a brief hold-up fitting the right rear, he still succeeded in slotting back in between Bearman and Hamilton. Zhou Guanyu was the last driver to pit on lap 43, and the curse of Sauber struck again with Zhou suffering a long delay in the box as the pit crew struggled to fit one of the new tyres, reminiscent of the setback suffered by his team mate Valtteri Bottas last week in Bahrain.

Verstappen meanwhile had been leading by almost ten seconds and was lost in the darkness of the desert night. A mix of traffic and little need to push meant that the gap between the Red Bulls reduced as the chequered flag approached, with Perez far enough ahead of third-placed Leclerc for his five second post-race penalty to prove immaterial.

Leclerc in turn had a big advantage over Piastri and Alonso, and Russell was able to hold on to sixth ahead of Bearman (deservedly voted driver of the day by the fans), Norris and Hamilton. Hulkenberg clinched a point for Haas in tenth, with Albon and Magnussen the last drivers crossing the line on the lead lap. There was good news for Ocon, who was by no means the slowest car of the night in P13 on what was a disappointing night for RB and Sauber.

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