Max Verstappen was able to shake off the thorn in Bahrain by taking victory in the final laps of the Saudi Arabian GP after a great duel with Charles Leclerc. The other Scuderia Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz completed the podium, Alonso retired after a problem in his power unit and Hamilton suffered. We analyze the highlights in the Jeddah Circuit.
1) Verstappen and Red Bull bounce back from Bahrain setback
In the first round of the season, Ferrari and Red Bull earned the label of favorites after starring in a great battle for pole position and later for victory in the race, however, the Maranello team ended up getting a double due to the double retirement of the Austrians a few laps from the end.
In Saudi Arabia, Red Bull had the clear objective of recovering those lost points and rejoining the fight for both titles, and from qualifying they showed it. Although Verstappen could not get comfortable, Sergio Pérez took pole and showed that the RB18 had the pace to compete with Ferrari again.
In the race and after the appearance of a safety car that changed everything, Checo moved up to fourth place and Verstappen moved into second, behind Leclerc , repeating the same positions they held for most of the first race at Sakhir.
In the final laps, the Dutchman got very close to the Monegasque and the two engaged in a titanic battle for victory. After a great move, Verstappen managed to cross the finish line in first position, with Leclerc seeing the checkered flag just half a second away.
With that victory, the reigning world champion added his first 25 points and climbed to third place in the drivers’ championship, just behind the two Ferraris. Red Bull, with the victory and fourth place, placed third in the constructors, 1 point behind Mercedes.
2) The Renault engine is still the Achilles heel of Alonso and Alpine
Already in the pre-season tests, the new Renault power unit left the Spanish driver stranded on the last day of testing in Barcelona and, despite the fact that Alpine assured that it had been an isolated problem, the breakdowns have not stopped repeating themselves in the #14 car.
In the first race of the season, Alonso finished ninth with a poorer than expected pace and, after the event, the team discovered an anomaly in the engine that caused the Asturian driver to use a new engine at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix , the second appointment of the course.
Despite the attempt to put those problems behind him and find a solution, Alonso was unpleasantly surprised to suffer an even bigger problem with his engine in the final part of the race in Jeddah, especially painful due to the great performance he had put in up to that point. moment, going from fighting even to be the first of the rest to being forced to give up.
With two breakdowns in two races and adding the problem of the tests, it seems to confirm that the new Renault engine does not have the reliability that they had hoped for, a major setback due to the strict rules of the 2022 season with the power units, which do not They allow the use of more than three propellants throughout the course, with penalties on the grid once that limit is exceeded.
3) Mercedes and Hamilton in trouble; Russell saves the weekend
After eight seasons setting the pace in the highest category of motorsport, with eight consecutive constructors’ titles, the new F1 technical regulations have caught Mercedes by surprise, which at the start of 2022 is in a position that it cannot they are used to it at all.
While it is true that in the first race of the season in Bahrain they were able to minimize the damage and even hide some of their weaknesses by leaving Sakhir with a third and fourth place, in Saudi Arabia their problems were even more evident.
Hamilton fell in Q1 in Jeddah for the first time since 2017 and was unable to make a great comeback in the race as he did in the past when a Saturday did not go well for Mercedes . The Briton started from 15th place and crossed the checkered flag in 10th place, adding a single point and showing the shortcomings of a W13 that is far from the top positions.
Beyond Hamilton , George Russell did put in a better performance and “saved” the weekend for the Brackley team. In qualifying he set the sixth fastest time, while in the race he finished in a comfortable fifth position as first of the rest, taking advantage of his pursuers and also staying ahead in no man’s land.
4) Sainz repeats podium and fights to get closer to victories in F1 2022
In both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Carlos Sainz finished the race in podium positions, a second place and a third position that seem to have left a good taste in the Madrid driver’s mouth despite finishing behind his teammate in both events.
At this moment, Leclerc occupies the first position in the drivers’ championship with 45 points, 12 more than Sainz . However, this disadvantage is seen as something positive from the Spanish driver’s side, as he recognizes that he still does not feel comfortable behind the wheel of the F1-75, so maximizing the points in these first races is his great objective.
Despite the fact that it seems that he is still a considerable distance behind the two big favorites at the moment, Leclerc and Verstappen , after the Saudi Arabian GP race, Sainz did not hesitate for a single moment in stating that he is confident in being able to approach them and fight for victories as soon as you can adapt to the car and configure it in a way that is closer to your driving.
Bearing that in mind and with more than 20 races to go, it is obvious that Carlos Sainz cannot be ruled out of the fight for the title yet, although the distance with respect to Charles Leclerc at the moment is much greater than expected, even surprising as the pilot himself has recognized.
5) The Grand Circus always goes on and the FIA makes mistakes of the past
A few weeks after canceling the Sochi race due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Formula 1 landed in Saudi Arabia for the second race of the season and, as was suspected, an attack terrorist hit the city of Jeddah during the dispute of free 1, an attack less than 20 kilometers from the track.
After receiving confirmation that it had been a missile attack, the FIA, F1 and the event organizers met to make a decision on the future and quickly made a statement explaining that everything would continue as planned, despite the doubts of some of the pilots, who held a meeting for more than four hours in the Saudi morning.
Just a week after posting images of the entire grid holding a “No War” sign in Bahrain, F1 was not even hesitating to compete in a country that was under attack at the same time, a territory that nurtures the Formula 1 with one of its main sponsors: Aramco , the target of the attack by the Houthis last Friday.
On the other hand, the FIA was portrayed in the second race of the season. After firing Masi and pointing him out as the main culprit for all the mistakes that were made during 2021, in Saudi Arabia they failed again when making decisions, highlighting above all the delay in intervening in the controversy that involved Sainz and Pérez with the Safety Car on the track.
This did not stop there, some investigations for an alleged infringement of yellow flags that came to nothing and a controversial incident with Dennis Hauger as the protagonist in Formula 2, were also the focus of criticism in a Saudi Arabian GP that had everything.
