JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – MARCH 09: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, and Oracle Red Bull Racing, celebrate in parc ferme during the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on March 09, 2024 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Verstappen secured his 56th Formula 1 victory, extending his winning streak to nine consecutive wins, including the last season. He dominated the race and comfortably crossed the finish line in first place.
Red Bull’s triumph in Jeddah also marked their 115th Formula 1 victory, surpassing Williams. Currently, they hold the fourth position in terms of total wins, behind Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari.
After finishing second to Perez in Saudi Arabia last year, Verstappen sought redemption and emerged victorious this time. In his post-race comments, he expressed satisfaction with his performance and praised the team’s efforts.
Perez acknowledged the progress made during the race and regretted starting off the front row. Despite a good start, he failed to overtake Charles Leclerc and engage in an exciting battle.
Leclerc celebrated his first podium of the season and acknowledged that Ferrari was no match for the Red Bulls, but superior to the rest of the field. This result indicates that Ferrari is currently stuck in a midfield position, chasing the front-running teams while being pursued by the others.
Leclerc reflected on the challenging nature of the race track, highlighting the physical demands and the joy of driving on it.
In a notable debut, Oliver Bearman, who replaced Carlos Sainz, impressed with a seventh-place finish, earning the Driver of the Day title.
Behind the top three, Oscar Piastri secured fourth place for McLaren, managing to fend off Fernando Alonso in the Alpine. George Russell and the exceptional Bearman followed closely.
Lando Norris, in the other McLaren, engaged in a fierce battle against his compatriot, opting for a different strategy by skipping a pit stop. However, he ended up finishing in eighth place, with Lewis Hamilton in ninth place closely following during the final part of the race.
Nico Hulkenberg secured the final point in tenth place for Haas, thanks to a strategic effort from the team and Kevin Magnussen receiving penalties from the FIA Stewards.
The next race, the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, will take place on March 24th as the third round of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship.
Report in progress…
Gasly faced difficulties early on, as issues affected the Alpine. He managed to reach the starting point but was instructed to park the vehicle shortly after the start. This was the first retirement of the 2024 season.
Norris had a turbulent start. Although an investigation took place, no further action was taken.
Verstappen had a great start, with Perez posing a real challenge to Leclerc at Turn 1 and in the early corners before Leclerc maintained second position.
Behind the leading trio, Piastri managed to overtake Alonso and secure fourth position, indicating that Aston Martin performed better in qualifying than in the actual race. The only other change in the top ten was Stroll moving up to ninth place and Tsunoda dropping one position.
On the fourth lap, Perez managed to pass Leclerc, resulting in the Red Bulls occupying the top two positions, with Verstappen leading by 2.4 seconds and setting the fastest laps.
The accident that Mika Hakkinen predicted in his Jeddah preview ended up happening. On the seventh lap, a safety car was deployed after Stroll’s Aston Martin collided with the walls at Turn 22, causing significant damage to the AMR2.
This triggered a series of pit stops, leading to a busy and bustling pit lane. The closest incident occurred when Perez crossed paths with Alonso, who was subsequently investigated by the FIA Stewards. Perez later received a 5-second penalty for the incident. Norris stayed behind the Safety Car and maintained the lead, while Verstappen, on fresh tires, closely followed him.
Hamilton also chose not to pit and found himself in third place. Hulkenberg (P8) and Zhou (P10) also stayed out on track.
The restart saw Norris make a good start, with Verstappen right behind him. Hamilton acted as a buffer between Verstappen and Perez in fourth place, with Leclerc following behind the Red Bull. Alonso had dropped to seventh place, chasing Piastri.
On the 12th lap, Verstappen regained the lead by overtaking Norris. Perez did the same and took third place from Hamilton, resulting in the Red Bulls once again occupying the top two positions. Verstappen had a 3.7-second advantage over his teammate.
Leclerc managed to pass Hamilton on the 15th lap, moving up to fourth place on track and third overall, just a few seconds behind Perez, at the exact moment when the Stewards announced a 5-second penalty for an unsafe release. Shortly after, Magnussen received a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Albon.
The experienced Haas driver received a further 10-second penalty for going off track and gaining an advantage during a battle with Tsunoda. At the same time, Piastri was closing in on Hamilton for fifth place, while Leclerc focused on overtaking Norris.
In an impressive display, rookie Bearman found himself in ninth place on the 20th lap, overtaking Tsunoda and engaging in a fierce battle with veteran Hulkenberg. Ferrari managed to overtake on the 22nd lap.
At this point, Verstappen had a six-second lead over Perez. Norris, who had not pitted, was close behind, with Leclerc four seconds behind the second Red Bull driver.
Piastri had his sights set on fifth place, with Hamilton in his sights. And for the next twelve laps, McLaren was faster, but Mercedes proved stubborn, refusing to pit halfway through the race.
On the 25th lap, Verstappen extended his lead to seven seconds over Perez in second place, with Leclerc a further eight seconds behind in third place, after overtaking Norris, who was still on his original set of tires.
The battle for a single point intensified on the 30th lap. Hulkenberg was being chased by the highly competitive group of Zhou, Ocon, Magnussen, Tsunoda, and Albon, constantly swapping positions.
K-Mag adopted an ultra-defensive strategy, allowing Hulkenberg to gain an advantage as a queue formed behind the Haas car.
Hulkenberg made his first pit stop on lap 35. Meanwhile, Piastri and Hamilton were closer than ever, with McLaren attempting to overtake but failing as Mercedes defended its position.
Hamilton was called into the pits on lap 36 for his first stop, receiving a set of soft tires. Norris did the same a lap later and also came out on soft tires.
The first six drivers were all on worn hard tires, while Norris (in eighth place) and Hamilton (in ninth place) were on soft tires, showing their speed as the fastest cars on the track at that moment.
On lap 40, the podium positions remained unchanged, with Verstappen leading by 8.5 seconds, followed by Perez in second place and Leclerc 12 seconds behind in third place. Piastri was five seconds behind in fourth place, closely followed by Alonso, with Russell 1.2 seconds behind the Aston Martin.
Bearman continued to perform admirably in seventh place, following Russell by six seconds, while Norris was closing in four seconds behind.
Zhou’s race was compromised by his team when he made a pit stop after an exceptionally long stint on track, only to receive poor service. He emerged in last place, behind his Sauber teammate Bottas.
In contrast, Bearman responded to the pressure from Norris and Hamilton by using softer and newer tires. The rookie showed an impressive performance, displaying strong pace when it mattered most.
With five laps remaining, Verstappen maintained an eight-second lead. Behind him, the positions remained stagnant, except for Hamilton’s persistent attempts to overtake Norris, which proved fruitless.
Max Verstappen emerged victorious in the fourth edition of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, crossing the finish line with a 13.6-second advantage over his competitors. Perez finished in second place, five seconds ahead of Leclerc. The gap between the winning Red Bull and the closest Ferrari was 18.6 seconds.
Max Verstappen secures his ninth consecutive victory 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
The checkered flag is waved in Jeddah 🏁#F1 #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/fzmc1zFRNA
– Formula 1 (@F1) March 9, 2024
The report on the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will replace this preview after the race concludes. Refresh this page for the updated version. Enjoy the race!
Who can defeat Max? No one. No driver possesses the combination of skills and speed to match Verstappen. Red Bull’s teammate, Sergio Perez, struggled and once again finished three tenths of a second slower than car number 1 in Saudi Arabia Qualifying, securing third place. However, both drivers will start side by side on the grid tonight.
Anticipate them dominating the race with a one-two finish, just like they did last year and in Bahrain last week. Anything less than a one-two finish for the World Champions will be disappointing, considering the significant advantage they hold. This advantage is comparable to last year, if not slightly greater due to the RB20 raising the bar.
With no one able to stop Verstappen, what can? Force Majeure, of course, unforeseen circumstances beyond his control. For example, a wrong call in the pits, a mishap during a pit stop, mechanical failure, or an incident. Before the high-speed race in Jeddah, double F1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen predicted “Safety Cars and accidents” for tonight. We sincerely hope the latter does not occur.
Starting in second position on the front row alongside Max, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc will challenge the Red Bulls. Carlos Sainz cannot participate due to appendicitis, allowing 18-year-old British driver Oliver Bearman to make his F1 debut. Despite having less than an hour in the car, the teenager performed admirably, almost overtaking Lewis Hamilton to reach Q3. Ponder that…
Bearman will become the 776th F1 driver and the 112th driver to represent Red Ferrari at the top of motorsport. He is about to have a challenging experience, amidst a highly competitive midfield, starting in 11th position for his first Grand Prix.
Good old Fernando Alonso. Give him a decent car and he can work wonders, as he demonstrated on Friday by securing third place on the grid for his 380th start in GPs. On a side note, an incredible statistic is that the 42-year-old Spaniard won his home race in Barcelona on May 8, 2005, the same day Bearman was born.
Behind the veteran duo Perez-Alonso, young talents occupy the positions of the McLaren pair. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will start in fifth and sixth places, setting the stage for potential chaos and an exciting first lap.
The next row is entirely occupied by the Silver & Black duo, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton struggling with their unstable Mercedes. Furthermore, their race pace may be inferior to their qualifying performance. This could be a challenging night for the German team.
© 2024
Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo is back at Manchester United. After a successful spell at the English club between 2003 and 2009, the Portuguese player returns to wear the Red Devils’ shirt. The news was officially announced on Tuesday (31) and caused great excitement among the fans.
Ronaldo, 36, had been at Juventus in Italy since 2018. However, he expressed his desire to leave the club and Manchester United seized the opportunity to bring him back. The player signed a two-season contract, with an option for one more renewal.
The signing of Cristiano Ronaldo is considered a major boost for Manchester United, which is looking to return to winning important titles. The player is one of the greatest goal scorers in the history of football and his experience and technical quality can be crucial to the team’s success.
Furthermore, Ronaldo’s return to the English club also represents a return to his roots. It was at Manchester United where the player stood out and gained worldwide recognition. Now, he will have the opportunity to relive great moments and win new titles wearing the Red Devils’ shirt.
The expectation is that Cristiano Ronaldo will make his debut for Manchester United soon. The fans are already eager to see the star on the field again and believe that his presence will bring a great boost to the team. Now we just have to wait and hope that Ronaldo continues to shine and help the club achieve its goals.
