F1 Saudi Arabian GP 2022 Results and Race Summary

Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez led in the opening stages after taking his first F1 pole, but his career changed after making his pit stop, just before a safety car caused Leclerc to inherit the lead, ahead of Verstappen and Sainz.

Verstappen overtook Leclerc after an intense battle in which, as in Bahrain, they exchanged the head of the test. Verstappen made the decisive move with four laps to go after a spectacular game with the DRS and the detection point.

F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2022 Race Results

Cla	Pilot	Chassis	laps	Weather
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	50	1:24’19.293
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	50	1:24’19.842
3	Carlos Sainz Jr.	ferrari	fifty	1:24’27.390
4	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	fifty	1:24’30.093
5	George Russell	Mercedes	50	1:24’52.025
6	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	50	1:25’15.310
7	Lando Norris	McLaren	50	1:25’15.417
8	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	50	1: 25’22.239
9	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	50	1: 25’23.601
10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	50	1:25’33.241
11	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo	50	1:25’41.508
12	Nico Hulkenberg	Aston Martin	50	1:25’51.035
13	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	49	1:24’33.861
14	Alexander Albon	williams	47	1:20’53.303
	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	36	1:02’38.074
	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	35	1:00’16.549
	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	35	1:00’25.430
	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	14	23’04.266
	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	0
	Mick Schumacher	Haas	0
see results

What happened in the 2022 F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix race?

Pérez kept the lead from pole position, ahead of Leclerc. Verstappen passed Sainz on the outside of Turn 2, with Esteban Ocon (Alpine) holding fifth position, followed by George Russell (Mercedes), Fernando Alonso (Alpine), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri). Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes moved up a place to 14th at the end of the first lap after falling out of Q1 in qualifying on Saturday.

Russell overtook Ocon to move up to 5th at the end of lap three. Alonso managed to catch up with Ocon’s DRS, but his teammate held off in sixth place for two laps before the Spaniard confirmed the overtaking on lap 7. Ocon attacked again and regained the position using the turn 1 run-off .

Ocon let Alonso pass, while making sure to stay in the DRS zone, and their fight allowed Bottas and Magnussen (the first car to start on hard tyres) to slip into his slipstream.

Pérez opened up a 2.3sec lead over Leclerc on lap 10, with Verstappen a further two seconds behind. Hamilton, who started on hard tyres, moved up to 12th, then passed the McLaren of Lando Norris and Gasly to break into the top 10 on lap 15.

Ocon and Alonso had another fight on lap 12, after which the Frenchman was told by radio to “hold position”. That didn’t work out, as Bottas passed Ocon and inherited seventh place.

Pérez pitted on hard tires on lap 16, after Ferrari made a feint by calling out Leclerc. Just after his stop, Nicholas Latifi crashed his Williams into the wall, causing a virtual safety car, which became and a Safety Car. Leclerc, Verstappen and Sainz pitted, while Pérez rejoined in third position, in parallel with the man from Madrid at the pitlane exit.

Sainz was ahead of Perez at the safety car line, but positions were not switched until the restart on lap 20. Russell passed Magnussen, who had not stopped, to move into fifth position at Turn 1. Hamilton he also gained some places not having pitted yet, and was seventh behind the Dane.

Hamilton passed Magnussen on lap 23, but Haas overtook him again at Turn 1. The Briton waited until Turn 1 the next lap to make his move and move up to sixth.

Alonso DRSed past Magnussen on lap 35 for seventh, but the Dane hit back when Fernando retired a lap later. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo stopped at the pit entrance just as Bottas pulled out of a points-earning position. Magnussen pitted to put on a media set, but Hamilton missed the opportunity as the pits closed.

The race resumed after a virtual safety car on lap 41, with Verstappen right behind Leclerc, passing him on the final corner of lap 42, but Leclerc held on at turn 1. On the next lap, they both locked up the front tires to try to make the other lose DRS, with Ferrari’s leading, and Verstappen almost spinning off the throttle again.

Verstappen did not fall for Leclerc on lap 46 and passed him with DRS at Turn 1, four laps from the checkered flag.

Alex Albon and Lance Stroll collided at Turn 1 on lap 48, just as the lead seemed about to change again. Leclerc got the DRS at the start of the final lap but couldn’t find a way past Verstappen who held on for a magnificent 0.549sec win.

Sainz finished third, ahead of the unlucky Perez, who was followed by Russell, Ocon, Norris, Gasly, Magnussen and Hamilton. Several of them were investigated for going too fast under yellow at the end, but no one was sanctioned by the FIA.

There were two drivers who did not start, Mick Schumacher, following his accident in qualifying, and Yuki Tsunoda, whose AlphaTauri suffered an oil pressure loss on his installation lap of the grid.

Best laps of the 2022 F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix race

Cla	Pilot	laps	Weather	Difference	Interval	Km/h
1	Charles Leclerc	48	1’31.634			242.556
2	Max Verstappen	50	1’31.772	0.138	0.138	242.191
3	Carlos Sainz Jr.	48	1’31,905	0.271	0.133	241,841
4	Sergio Perez	46	1’32.042	0.408	0.137	241,481
5	Lando Norris	46	1’32.753	1.119	0.711	239.629
6	Kevin Magnussen	48	1’32.779	1,145	0.026	239,562
7	George Russell	43	1’32.821	1.187	0.042	239.454
8	Lewis Hamilton	47	1’32.997	1.363	0.176	239.001
9	Stephen Ocon	46	1’33,103	1,469	0.106	238,729
10	Pierre Gasly	42	1’33.468	1.834	0.365	237.796
11	Nico Hulkenberg	47	1’33.651	2.017	0.183	237.332
12	Fernando Alonso	33	1,33,831	2,197	0.180	236,876
13	Guanyu Zhou	45	1’33.924	2.290	0.093	236.642
14	Valtteri Bottas	31	1’33.979	2.345	0.055	236.503
15	Alexander Albon	46	1’34.368	2.734	0.389	235.528
16	Lance Stroll	46	1’34.446	2.812	0.078	235.334
17	Daniel Ricciardo	3. 4	1,34,487	2,853	0.041	235,232
18	Nicholas Latifi	9	1’37,530	5,896	3,043	227,892
see results

F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2022 Race Pit Stops

Cla	Pilot	Chassis	1		two		3
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	M	16	H	34
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	M	16	H	34
3	Carlos Sainz Jr.	ferrari	M	16	H	3. 4
4	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	M	fifteen	H	35
5	George Russell	Mercedes	M	16	H	34
6	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	M	16	H	34
7	Lando Norris	McLaren	M	16	H	34
8	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	M	15	H	35
9	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	H	39	M	15
10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	H	41	M	10
11	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo	M	16	H	11	H	34
12	Nico Hulkenberg	Aston Martin	H	38	M	14
13	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	M	14	H	37
14	Alexander Albon	williams	M	13	H	34
	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	M	16	H	19	M	1
	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	M	16	H	19
	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	M	8	H	27
	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	M	14
	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri
	Mick Schumacher	Haas
see results