Sergio Perez has stormed to victory in this morning’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, topping teammate Max Verstappen by 6 seconds in a commanding Red Bull performance.
Fernando Alonso was comfortable to take third on-track, a hugely significant moment seeing the Spaniard appearing to finish on the podium for the 100th time in his career.
Whilst he physically stepped onto the podium for celebrations, the success was short-lived when news of a post-race 10 second penalty came through. This elevated George Russell to third and relegated the Spaniard to fourth.
Alonso’s misfortunes come as a result of an incorrectly served 5 second penalty much earlier in the race, the rear jack appearing to make contact with his car before time had been served. Esteban Ocon received the same penalty for the same offence just last round.
Russell had finished 5.2 seconds behind the two-time World Champion, Lewis Hamilton a further 5 behind that seeing Alonso slot in between the pair in the classifications.
For Red Bull the one-two was a breeze, despite Verstappen being out of place from 15th off the start, the two cars showing pace unrivalled by any of their opposition.
It took less than half the race for the two-time defending champion to be back in the mix, his only competition coming from his own teammate who was able to lap with similar times.
Perez’s victory was in-part due to his speed, but also came off the back of the sole Safety Car restart on Lap 21 where he quickly built time over the field whilst Verstappen was forced to pass both Mercedes and Alonso. The Dutchman did take second on Lap 25, the race leader some 5 seconds up the road, the gap too big an ask to overcome.
Whilst Verstappen was able to eat into that time he wasn’t able to top it, Perez taking race spoils but his teammate taking the fastest lap on the final lap to hold the World Championship lead by a sole point over the race winner.
Alonso’s fourth should also be commended, highlighting Aston Martin are well in-truly in the mix with the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes. The Spaniard overcame a 5 second penalty for his 100th podium, accrued for a start line infringement as he lined up too far left in his box.
He’d briefly led off the start but his pace was no match for that of Perez who took the lead soon after DRS became available and never looked back.
Their only failure came in the forms of Lance Stroll, the Canadian forced out with mechanical issues mid-way through the race, stopping just short of a run-off and triggering said sole Safety Car.
Mercedes were comfortable in Russell’s third and Hamilton’s fifth, the Silver Arrows looking to have a pace advantage over Ferrari at this stage of the season.
Carlos Sainz was the first of the Italian manufacturer’s drivers home in sixth with his teammate Charles Leclerc just behind.
Alpine teammates Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly finished eighth and ninth respectively, heading home Kevin Magnussen who salvaged a sole point for Haas with a move on Yuki Tsunoda in the dying stages.
McLaren’s miserable start to the year continued with both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finishing well outside the points. The Australian’s great qualifying run for eighth was quickly overshadowed by front wing damage on Lap 1 which required a pit stop for a change.
To compound their misery Norris suffered the same fate to put both their cars at the back over the early stages, joining the likes of Williams, who lost Alex Albon with brake difficulties mid-way through the race , AlphaTauri and Alfa Romeo as the outfits failing to score a point
Race Report
Alonso was the better of the two starters off the front row and took the inside line into Turn 1 over Perez with Russell slotting into a comfortable third. Stroll was quickly to work for Aston Martin and took fourth off Sainz with a fantastic move around the outside at Turn 4.
The field all got through the first lap cleanly, with the exception being Piastri who made side-on contact with Gasly in the mid-field and received a damaged front wing as a result.
A stop at the end of the opening lap for a new front wing was the result, Norris also following a lap later and requiring the same change to put both McLarens at the rear of the field.
Up front Alonso had done well to hold off Perez despite news coming through of a 5 second penalty for an incorrect starting position, the Spaniard found to be too far left in his starting box.
When DRS became available the superb straight line speed of the Red Bull was no match for the Aston Martin, Perez quickly taking the lead at the start of Lap 4.
The drag reduction system also worked in favour for Alonso who was able to pull away on the race leader’s tail as the duo build a gap on those behind.
At the end of Lap 4 a top 10 running order had been clearly established with Perez leading Alonso, Russell, Stroll, Sainz, Ocon, Hamilton, Gasly, Leclerc and Zhou.
Verstappen had also begun moving forward, as expected from his out of position grid box of 15th, sitting 11th ahead of the two Haas.
Leclerc had also moved forward and passed Gasly to take eighth on Lap 7 as Verstappen entered the top 10 with a move on Zhou at the same point.
The Ferrari and Red bull continued their respective marches towards the front, Leclerc, on soft tyres, making quick work of Hamilton, the only driver in the top 10 on hards, on Lap 9. Verstappen also passed Gasly on the same lap to move to ninth.
Up front Perez had gone about building a lead which sat at 3 seconds after Lap 12, running clear and continuing to build. Alonso also sat 3 seconds clear of Russell in a lonely second at an early point in the race.
Verstappen had also breezed past Hamilton at the same point to tail Leclerc, the Monegasque driver quickly overtaking Ocon with the Dutchman following not long after.
Stroll was among the first to stop and joined by several back-runners, Ferrari waiting a few laps to box Sainz and successfully retaking track position back off the Aston Martin. Leclerc was also able to follow and take position, pushing Stroll further down the top 10.
It wasn’t to matter for the Canadian who came to a halt on-track on Lap 18 and forced to retire from the race. A Safety Car was imminent seeing the field who were yet to stop quickly making their way to the lane.
This worked wonders for both Red Bulls, Perez able to hold his lead comfortably whilst Alonso’s 5 second penalty was served and saw him hold second with Russell falling into file behind.
A neat double stack for Red Bull saw Verstappen up to fourth, Ferrari the big losers as Sainz dropped to fifth and Leclerc to seventh with Hamilton splitting the pair.
A clean restart on Lap 21 saw everyone hold their position initially as Perez launched 2 seconds clear by the end of the lap.
Hamilton managed a move on Sainz that same lap, medium tyres now working in his favour with the rest of the top 10 on hards.
A lack of DRS following the restart saw Verstappen stuck briefly behind Russell, this changing moments after it became available, the two-time defending champion now sitting 3rd from 15th on Lap 24.
The very next lap Alonso was also easy work for the Dutchman who made it a Red Bull one-two on the road and leaving Verstappen 5 seconds behind his teammate as he quickly made time over those behind.
Brake issues for Albon on Lap 26 saw him drop from 13th to the back of the remaining pack, the Thai driver passing the lane and remaining on-track for a further lap before retiring as the issue failed to rectify itself.
Hamilton had also made up ground on his teammate who was under the assumption Alonso ahead was yet to serve his penalty. When informed he had Russell quickly put down his foot to pull out of DRS range of Hamilton and hold fourth for the time being.
The race now settled into a rhythm with the out-of-place drivers now in positions which reflected car pace. Perez had maintained his 5 second lead over his teammate as Red Bull quickly built time over the pack, lapping a second faster per lap than the others to run away with the spoils.
From here things became slightly processional with teams falling into an order which reflected car pace. This saw Red Bull leading with a gap on Alonso who in turn had time over both Mercedes, then Ferraris and Alpines respectively with Tsunoda rounding out the top 10 with two Haas hot on his tail.
There were only a few changes for position over the final 10 laps, most notably coming from Magnussen who overtook Tsunoda to salvage a point for Haas in 10th. The three rookies in the field also battled between themselves and Norris well outside the top 10, De Vries taking 14th off Sargeant and the two McLarens battling amongst themselves at the back.
Header Image: Red Bull content pool
