Saudi Arabian Grand Prix | Verstappen, in usual perfection

Max Verstappen was impeccable. Like always.

Continuing with the 2023 season and the Bahrain Grand Prix last week, the three-time world champion won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Saturday, almost 14 seconds ahead of his teammate Sergio Pérez. For a second time in two races, the Dutch and Austrian national anthems were in the spotlight; we begin to know them by heart, these ones.

“All in all, it’s a fantastic weekend for the team, but also for me. I felt really good with the car. Same thing during the race” summarized “Mad Max” at the F1 microphone after its 56^e career victory.

Sergio Pérez, despite a 5-second penalty for a dangerous exit from the pits on 10^e lap, managed to beat Charles Leclerc, giving Red Bull its first, and probably not its last, double of the season.

Leclerc, whose first podium of the season, beat Verstappen’s fastest lap at the end of the race, a considerable achievement given the power of the Red Bulls. “I was helped a little by the DRS, but all in all, I felt pretty good,” said the Monegasque.

“It was a bit of a boring race because Red Bull was too fast. We had a gap behind, but we collected as many points as possible today. That was the goal. »

Fearless Oliver Bearman

Let’s talk about Oliver Bearman. The replacement for Carlos Sainz Jr. – the latter missed the Grand Prix due to appendicitis – did not watch the race go by; he concluded in 7^e place, an impressive result.

Intrepid, the 18-year-old Briton did very, very well behind the wheel of the Ferrari. He was insistent behind Yuki Tsunoda for 10^e place in the first round; the overtake only came a few laps later. At 20^e, he found himself stuck behind Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg. “He’s so slow,” he blurted into his microphone. In the next round, he was well ahead of him for 9^e rank.

“You’re doing a really good job,” said the Ferrari racing director in the young man’s ear.

When Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris finally made their obligatory pit stop, in the following laps, Bearman found himself 7^e. And when his team asked him to maintain the pace at the end of the race so as not to be caught by Norris and Hamilton, he did so, under the watchful eyes of his attentive father in the Ferrari garage.

Result: Bearman was named driver of the day with 48% of the votes.

“He completely deserves it,” said Charles Leclerc. (…) Everyone has noticed how talented he is. It’s only a matter of time before he makes it to Formula 1.”

When he got out of his car after the race, Bearman was immediately greeted by Lewis Hamilton, who extended his hand and congratulated him. There is worse !

And the others

On this circuit suitable for overtaking, there was action. It started from the start, when Pérez and Leclerc fought over second place. In front of them, Verstappen was already distancing himself. And far behind, Lando Norris (McLaren) missed his start; However, and above all surprisingly, he was not penalized.

Lance Stroll’s run didn’t last long. Party 10^e on the grid, the Aston Martin driver missed a turn at 7^e lap and hit the barrier, forcing a yellow flag. Everyone entered the pits except four drivers, including Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. Norris was therefore first when the safety car left the track, at 10^e round.

In the category of drivers whose work deserves to be highlighted: Kevin Magnussen, at Haas, played the perfect teammate for Hulkenberg. After making questionable overtakes at the start of the race, which earned him two 10-second penalties, the 31-year-old Dane opted for team spirit. At 30^e turn, he took charge of blocking the six cars behind him to allow Hulkenberg to enter the pits and come out 11^e behind the Kick Sauber of Zhou Guanyu. When Guanyu went to the pits, Hulkenberg found himself 10^e to collect his first point since July 2023.

Otherwise, Oscar Piastri took fourth place, giving McLaren 12 points. Fernando Alonso did what he could with his Aston Martin, taking 5^e rank. George Russell took the 6^e ahead of Bearman, while Norris finished 8^e and Hamilton, 9^e.

Pierre Gasly, at Alpine, experienced gearbox problems on the warm-up lap. He started, but retired on the first lap.

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