Well, everyone was very happy with the result of Qualifying, Checo Perez taking his first pole position, with a lap that he couldn't explain. Mick Schumacher lost control of his Haas in a big incident; big enough that we weren't shown it until he was in the ambulance, having spoken to the medics. For those of us who watched Senna's crash, it feels like such a paradigm shift. With his car finishing in two parts, he wasn't able to take part in the race, which is a huge shame as Haas need to capitalise on being ahead of other, better-funded, bigger operations. Magnussen started in 10th. It's no shock that there was another big smash at Jeddah, it's a tricky, street-style circuit with concrete barriers. The big shock was that Hamilton couldn't put the lap together to get out of Q1 and started 15th. Williams seem to have been completely unable to work the regulation changes to any kind of advantage, starting 16th and 18th.
Following all the drama with Red Bull Power Trains (their engines) last race out, Tsunoda breaking down en route to the grid wasn't a good sign for those Red Bulls trying to catch up with Ferrari and Mercedes. Perez was still in the lead off the grid, with Verstappen overtaking Sainz. The Alpines held their places and theirs was also the early battle, the team mates really going head-to-head down the main straight, with Alonso finally getting the DRS advantage. They did help Russell keep ahead in 5th though.
Ferrari and LeClerc tricked Red Bull into stopping early, even radioing in "Box to overtake". The advantage was definitely given when Latifi (the championship decider from 2021) crashed into the straight wall and brought out the Safety Car. Ricciardo, who went for an early stop and committed to a one-stop race, was also a big winner (or so it seemed). Betting on the Safety Car coming out at Saudi is all the bookmakers' favourite.
After the Safety Car went in, LeClerc held on to first place. And the race trundled on...
Suddenly, lap 36, Bernie's Big Magnets (a bit like his plan to use water sprinklers) were switched on and Alonso lost power, then Ricciardo and then Bottas was in the pits retiring. And the Virtual Safety Car was brought out. After a lot of clearing up, there was 9 laps of racing to go. Verstappen took LeClerc, LeClerc took Verstappen. Verstappen might be an aggressive and instinctive driver but LeClerc has the smarts. With 3 laps to go, Verstappen finally got it right and now had to defend. Ferrari took second and third. Hamilton gained a point for finishing 10th. Magnussen got 2 points from Haas.
Just to make Williams' day even worse, Albon and Stroll came together.
Going Up
- Say what you like about the Saudi's but they know how to paint some damn fine run-off pictures
- Alpine - team mates allowed to race
- Marshals - handling any and all crisis'
Going Down
- Sportswashing
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