Max Verstappen, representing Red Bull Racing, continued his dominant start to the 2024 Formula 1 season by completely controlling the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, resulting in another impressive one-two finish for Red Bull. The Dutch driver secured a comfortable victory at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, with his teammate Sergio Perez finishing in second place and Charles Leclerc from Ferrari in third.
In terms of tire strategy, most drivers on the grid, except for Oliver Bearman and Valtteri Bottas, opted for the Medium compound due to limited degradation and the expectation of a one-stop race.
At the start of the race, Leclerc seemed ready to challenge Verstappen, but the Dutchman quickly took the lead and held his position into Turn 1. This compromised Leclerc’s position and allowed Perez to overtake him on the outside. However, Leclerc managed to regain the inside line at Turn 4.
Further back in the pack, Lance Stroll managed to pass Yuki Tsunoda, who was under pressure from Bearman. The British driver attempted to pass the Red Bull car at Turn 13 with a bold move and made another attempt at Turn 1 on the following lap, but ultimately couldn’t make the pass.
In the midst of this action, Oscar Piastri, in the leading McLaren, took advantage of the slipstream to pass Fernando Alonso and secure fourth place at Turn 1. Unfortunately, Alpine’s struggles continued as Pierre Gasly was instructed to retire from the race.
Verstappen gradually increased his lead over Leclerc, leaving the Ferrari driver vulnerable to Perez, who eventually used the Drag Reduction System (DRS) to overtake and secure second place on lap 4.
The race settled into a more predictable rhythm until Stroll’s incident on lap 6, when he collided with the inner wall at Turn 22 and hit the opposite wall, causing a disruption in the race order.
The entry of the Safety Car was the catalyst for a strategic shift in the race. Multiple teams took the opportunity to make a pit stop and switch to the Hard compound tires, which were expected to last for the entire duration of the race. Red Bull drivers, along with Leclerc, Piastri, Alonso, and Russell, all made the decision to ditch their initial tires. However, Norris and Hamilton chose to stay out on track and challenge Verstappen.
Hamilton expressed his dissatisfaction with the decision not to pit, believing he was now at a significant disadvantage compared to his rivals. He communicated his frustration to his race engineer, Peter Bonnington.
The race resumed on lap 9, with Norris executing a flawless restart to maintain his lead over Verstappen. Meanwhile, Piastri almost caught Leclerc off guard, putting pressure on the Ferrari driver.
In addition to Norris and Hamilton, Nico Hulkenberg for Haas and Guanyu Zhou for Sauber also chose not to pit. This strategic move allowed them to move up into positions within the top 10.
Bearman, closely following Zhou, overtook Tsunoda at Turn 1 during the restart. He then quickly passed the Sauber driver to secure tenth place.
Alex Albon was furious with Kevin Magnussen for not giving him enough space on the approach to Turn 4. This forced the Williams driver to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
As Verstappen’s Hard compound tires reached their ideal temperature, he closed the gap to Norris and finally regained the lead on lap 13. At the same time, Perez executed a similar move on Hamilton.
Hamilton’s struggles became apparent as he began to hold up the cars behind him. However, Russell, with fresher tires, seized this opportunity and overtook Hulkenberg to secure ninth place.
Leclerc found himself losing ground to Perez in the battle for second place. However, he made a crucial move on his future Mercedes teammate, overtaking him at Turn 1.
Officials were investigating an incident involving an unsafe release, where Perez was released into the path of Alonso. As a result, Perez received a five-second penalty.
There was more news from the officials, as the new regulations for 2024 resulted in Magnussen receiving a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Albon.
Hamilton had fallen out of the crucial one-second range behind Leclerc, but Piastri was unable to make a successful pass at Turn 1 and had to give back the position.
In an attempt to establish a five-second advantage over Leclerc, Perez easily overtook Norris, putting Red Bull in the familiar position of running in first and second.
Bearman had expressed frustration at Hulkenberg holding him up, but Hulkenberg managed to keep his position clean through the final corner and made a comfortable pass on the start/finish straight with the help of DRS.
Magnussen, who was in 12th place halfway through the race, received an additional 10-second penalty for going off track and gaining an advantage while overtaking Tsunoda.
Piastri had been hindered by Hamilton from behind, and the lack of expected speed from McLaren on the straight was hurting his chances, as Mercedes remained ahead.
McLaren informed Piastri that they had reported Hamilton’s braking maneuvers to the stewards, even though Piastri himself had not expressed disapproval of his rival’s actions.
Norris began to feel the pressure from Leclerc behind him, but was told over the radio that McLaren planned to extend his first pit stop in the race.
The British driver acknowledged that it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain his pace, and Leclerc easily overtook him to regain a position on the podium.
Magnussen had helped Hulkenberg’s chances by holding a long line of cars behind him, and he successfully defended his 12th position by closing the door on Tsunoda at the exit of Turn 3.
The compromised run of Tsunoda towards Turn 4 resulted in him losing a position to Esteban Ocon in the Alpine’s only remaining car, while Magnussen continued leading this group of five drivers. Magnussen’s defensive maneuvers allowed his teammate Hulkenberg to open up a sufficient gap to make a pit stop and come out ahead of the pack in 10th place. Piastri was closely following Hamilton’s Mercedes, but missed an opportunity to overtake the seven-time champion when he went off track in the first corner. Hamilton made a pit stop at the end of lap 36 to put on Soft compound tires and rejoined the race in ninth place, 7 seconds behind Bearman in the Ferrari ahead. McLaren decided to cover the threat of an undercut, and Norris, also on Soft tires, came out behind Bearman but ahead of Hamilton, despite a 4.1-second pit stop. Norris received a warning flag for weaving while trying to prevent Hamilton from launching an attack, but he managed to hold his position after that. Sauber kept Zhou on track hoping for a late disruption, but he was eventually called into the pits with eight laps to go, and a slow stop put him at the back of the pack. Bearman was told that holding onto seventh place was possible, as Norris’ focus was more on keeping Hamilton behind than catching the Ferrari ahead. Daniel Ricciardo had a challenging weekend and a strange spin resulted in a disappointing 16th place for him, just ahead of the two Sauber drivers. Verstappen comfortably secured his 56th career victory and his second in Saudi Arabia, becoming the first driver to win multiple times at the high-speed Jeddah track. Perez settled for second place, 8 seconds behind Verstappen on track before his penalty was applied, while Leclerc avoided repeating his brake issues from Bahrain to claim third place. Piastri finished fourth in the leading McLaren, with Alonso dispelling doubts about the long-run pace of the Aston Martin to secure fifth place, ahead of Russell. Bearman held onto seventh place, leading his compatriots Norris and Hamilton across the finish line, while Hulkenberg completed the top 10 to earn a valuable point for the Haas team.
© 2024
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