The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix became an endurance race, full of incidents, and in which a Safety Car (provoked again by Nicholas Latifi) changed destiny: Pérez, who was comfortably leading, had made his first pitstop just before of the neutralization, and Leclerc, Verstappen and Sainz took the opportunity to enter with the safety car, overtaking him.
Leclerc had to fight a titanic fight against Verstappen , DRS through, and the Red Bull finally took the duel to add his first victory of the course. Both gave a tremendous show that did not come until the last lap due to an abandonment of Albon ‘s Williams that stained the first sector with yellow flags.
Leclerc, defeated, had to settle for second place, but maintains the leadership of the world championship. Both finished far from a Sainz who had to defend third place against Pérez to get back on the podium, third in a row for the Madrid native. Both Carlos and Checo are under investigation, like Magnussen , for allegedly not slowing down enough during yellow flags at the end.
Russell was ‘best of the rest’ as the first Mercedes, after a fairly quiet race for the Briton. Behind him, sixth, came Ocon , who had a tough (and absurd) battle with his teammate Alonso and who had to sweat ink in the last two laps to defeat Norris . The Spaniard, for his part, won that duel of the Alpines, but suffered a breakdown with 15 laps to go and had to retire.
Norris, with the McLaren, finished seventh, and Gasly, Magnussen and Hamilton closed the top 10. The seven-time champion was making a good comeback, lengthening his first stint a lot with hard tires (the favorites started with medium), but was affected when the abandonment Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo (on the same lap, along with Valtteri Bottas) closed the pitlane, preventing him from entering.
The race was full of drama before it started, when Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri dropped the Japanese driver on the lap on the way to the grid, without even allowing him to join the grid. In addition to him and Mick Schumacher (whose team decided not to race after Saturday’s accident) there were five more dropouts.
After this incredible race, we will have to wait two weeks until the next one, the Australian GP, on April 10.
F1 Saudi Arabia 2022 Race Results – Standings & Points
(Click on ‘See results’ to enjoy the entire table)
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
50 | 1:24’19.293 | 25 | ||
| 2 |  Charles Leclerc |
 |
50 | 1:24’19.842 | 0.549 | 0.549 | 19 |
| 3 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |
|
fifty | 1:24’27.390 | 8,097 | 7,548 | fifteen |
| 4 |  Sergio Perez |
 |
fifty | 1:24’30.093 | 10,800 | 2,703 | 12 |
| 5 |  George Russell |
 |
50 | 1:24’52.025 | 32.732 | 21.932 | 10 |
| 6 |  Esteban Ocon |
 |
50 | 1:25’15.310 | 56.017 | 23.285 | 8 |
| 7 | Lando Norris |
 |
50 | 1:25’15.417 | 56.124 | 0.107 | 6 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly |
 |
50 | 1: 25’22.239 | 1’02.946 | 6,822 | 4 |
| 9 |  Kevin Magnussen |
 |
50 | 1:25’23.601 | 1’04.308 | 1.362 | 2 |
| 10 | Lewis Hamilton |
 |
50 | 1:25’33.241 | 1’13.948 | 9.640 | 1 |
| see results | |||||||
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Saudi Arabia 2022 Formula 1 Race Summary
The start was cleaner than many of us had imagined. Pérez had no problem keeping the lead from pole, and Leclerc second place. Sainz had started well, but found himself cornered by his teammate, allowing Verstappen to overtake him at the second corner.
Behind there was a little more tension, with a touch between Ricciardo and Zhou without great consequences. Hamilton, who was starting 15th, avoided problems but was unable to make much progress at the start and it was not until the end of the first lap that he passed Albon for 14th.
Fratricidal fight between Alonso and Ocon, from Alpine, in Jeddah
When the use of DRS opened up we started to see more action, and Russell passed Ocon to be fifth. Gasly gave Norris back the overtaking the Briton had made at the start, and the Alpines left behind a moment of great tension, when Alonso tried to overtake Ocon at the end of lap 4 and the Frenchman closed the inside, forcing the Spaniard to close straight ahead to avoid an accident.
On the next lap Alonso tried it from the outside, but again Ocon closed the door, and it was not until lap 7 when the Asturian finally asserted his best pace to stay in sixth position. However, the Frenchman did not give his arm to twist and returned the overtaking, although he did it having to go off track at turn 1 and was forced to give up his position.
That battle between teammates was about to be taken advantage of by Bottas, who stuck to the two pink cars, and also allowed Magnussen to reach them. With the same harshness with which he had defended himself against Alonso, Ocon held on against Bottas, while Hamilton continued his comeback. By lap 12, the Briton was already 11th, having gained position from Zhou, Stroll and Norris.
Ocon attacked Alonso again and again skipped the apex of turn 2. The two-time champion managed to distance himself and in fact Bottas passed Ocon on lap 14. There some stops began to arrive, while Hamilton entered the points after giving Gasley account.
The first stops of the leaders in Saudi Arabia and Safety Car
The first four, and candidates for victory, had come out with means, so the strategy seemed the only way to win. Thus, at the start of lap 16, Ferrari threatened to put Leclerc in, and Red Bull reacted by bringing Pérez in. Leclerc was left out, and a crash by Nicholas Latifi (again) brought up the safety car, changing everything.
Everyone quickly took the opportunity to change tires, which allowed Leclerc to take first place and Verstappen second. Sainz started close to Pérez, in parallel, and although he remained in fourth position, the maneuver was very fair as overtaking was prohibited during the Safety Car.
Magnussen and Hamilton, with hard, had not stopped, gaining positions (5th and 7th) and leaving Alonso eighth.
Sainz and Pérez’s maneuver was scored, but the Mexican was not ordered to return position before the restart.
The Jeddah race resumes after the Safety Car, lap 21/50
Leclerc managed to hold on to first position, and Russell surprised Magnussen to take fifth, with Pérez letting Sainz pass for third.
Hamilton would then manage to pass Magnussen, while Alonso had to fend off Bottas’ attack. However, Alonso was soon able to close in on Magnussen, fighting for seventh place. Ahead, Verstappen seemed to get closer to Leclerc, but when he got within DRS’s shot, the Ferrari man accelerated and gained distance.
Triple retirement (Alonso, Ricciardo, Bottas) and everything is compressed in the Yeda race
Alonso finally passed Magnussen at the start of lap 35, but the Dane also took advantage of the DRS to give it back to him. And there, as soon as he was overtaken, Alonso began to lose power, having to complete the lap at a low pace and falling to last position. On the same lap, Ricciardo also suffered a breakdown in his McLaren, but the Australian failed to make it to the pitlane.
And as if that were not enough, Bottas, who had entered the pits, also had to leave. After a long period of caution, on lap 38 a Virtual Safety Car period was instituted, and the pitlane entrance was closed because Alonso also stayed in the pitlane entrance lane.
The neutralization was maintained for several laps, with the pitlane closed. On lap 41, it finally opened up and Hamilton made his first stop, dropping to 12th.
The Saudi Arabia race resumes (lap 42/50) and Verstappen and Leclerc play it
Verstappen came close to passing Leclerc on the restart, sticking close to him during that first lap to try and take advantage of DRS. And so it was, Verstappen got it on lap 43, but Leclerc gave it back. In the next one, Leclerc braked just before the DRS line, opening the door for the Dutchman to pass him and him to have the overtaking device. However, Verstappen preferred to block and stay behind, but he lost so much time that Leclerc caught his breath.
But the duel between the two great favorites for this 2022 had not ended there, and Verstappen took the lead with three laps to go, at the start of lap 47.
The two drivers continued to battle, but an Alex Albon incident brought out the yellow flag in the first sector, taking the heat out of the fight and allowing Verstappen to cross the finish line as the winner.
