Following Max Verstappen’s dominant win at the Bahrain Grand Prix, it was time for the second race of the season at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Saudi provided an exciting race last year, with some good overtakes and a game of DRS Chicken between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. Sergio Perez came into the weekend hoping for some better luck, as a badly timed safety car ruined his shot at a win last year.
Qualifying
Sergio Perez continued to show improvement in one-lap pace as he put his Red Bull on Pole for the second year running in Saudi. He now joins Jean Alesi as the only drivers to have multiple poles, but all at the same venue.
On Max Verstappen’s side of the Red Bull garage, things weren’t going so well. Verstappen experienced a driveshaft failure in Q2 which took him out of qualifying and left him starting 15th on the grid. Well, at least Charles won’t be too lonely out there.
Charles Leclerc managed to drag his Ferrari within less than two tenths of pole, with teammate Carlos Sainz had to settle for P5. This would become P4 because Ferrari is being Ferrari, so Leclerc had to take a grid penalty for the second race of the season. Clowns.
Lance Stroll slotted into P6 (P5 with Leclerc’s penalty), while his teammate Fernando Alonso stormed to 3rd, which would become second with Leclerc’s penalty.
Logan Sargeant was unable to set a time within 107% of the fastest Q1 time, and he had to get special permission from the stewards to participate in the race.
Race
At the start, Fernando Alonso showed how good his starts are as he overtook Perez going into Turn 1. However, he seems to still have some Alpine driver in his blood, as he did what Esteban Ocon did in Bahrain and did not properly line up in his grid box. Fernando was issued a 5 second time penalty.
Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc had to climb through the midfield to get back towards the front. Verstappen managed to climb back to P2 while Leclerc had to settle for P7 behind his teammate Carlos Sainz.
Alpine had a strong race, with Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly slotting into P8 and P9 respectively. This is a great improvement from Bahrain where Ocon collected 3 penalties and eventually retired.
A well timed Safety Car helped Mercedes big time, and they were able to get a good result. George Russell finished in P4 with his teammate Lewis Hamilton slotting into P5.
What’s Next
F1 now heads to Albert Park for the third round of the 2023 Championship, from March 31 to April 2. Max Verstappen leads the World Championship by a single point, as he snatched the fastest lap from Perez in Jeddah.
POST RACE EDIT: Fernando Alonso was issued a 10 second penalty for not properly serving his previous grid box penalty. George Russell was promoted to the podium, but the FIA backed down and gave Alonso his podium back. Congrats on 100, Fernando!
