Unexpected twists and turns everywhere, this weekend was full of catastrophic crashes and potent penalties. Buckle up for the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.
The season so far has clearly shown there’s a tight battle amongst many drivers from different teams. The front runners so far are McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes, with Ferrari hot on their heels. Then, an intense midfield battle is underway among Williams, Haas, Aston Martin, and Racing Point, with Alpine and Sauber still hoping to score some more points.
An eventful FP2 practice session for newly appointed Red Bull driver, Yuki Tsunoda, as he bumped the wall, sending him into the barrier and red-flagging the session. Several other drivers also clipped the wall in the practice sessions, including Albon (Williams), Antonelli (Mercedes), and last week’s race winner, Piastri (McLaren). Still, all were able to stay on track.
An apparent dominance from both McLaren drivers in the practice sessions, with Verstappen, Russell and Leclerc hunting them down.
An invigorating qualifying session lit up the Saudi Arabia track, but it was an unfortunate end for Sauber with Bortoletto out in 20th and Hulkenberg in 18th. A notable record that Stroll (Aston Martin) hit after qualifying was that he now has the most Q1 exits ever in Formula 1 history. Although it is a new record of 75 exits, it’s not an enjoyable one for him or his team, I suspect.
In Q2, it was a round of rookie eliminations, with Bearman (Haas), Hadjar, and Lawson from Racing Bulls all out and unable to push their cars any faster. And it was a double A assassination for Alonso (Aston Martin) and Albon, who was hoping to get both Williams cars into Q3.
Then, for the final qualifying round, it looked to be a tight battle to the end, but the session was over quickly for Lando Norris, who crashed out into the barrier shortly after the session began. Flying shrapnel everywhere resulted in red-flagging the session for everyone else. Luckily he was okay. A minor error of going too wide over the curb sends him flying in to the barrier causing major incidents for Mclaren’s run.
With little time to go in Q3 after Norris’s accident, the rest of the cars are desperate to get some time across the board, with only Piastri securing a time before Norris crashes. The Red Bull team decided to push Verstappen to get two good lap times, which is a tall order under limited time pressure, whereas the other cars opted to secure only one flying lap.
The midfield battle between Alpine and Williams continued, with them taking the bottom two spots, 9th and 10th, respectively. Tsunoda secured his highest position yet in 8th as a Red Bull driver, and then it was a checkerboard of Mercedes and Ferrari, with Russell taking third place.
Then it was the final two drivers, Piastri versus Verstappen, both desperate to cross the line ahead of each other. Piastri crossed first with a tremendous time, having to defend the McLaren lead by himself, but it looked like Red Bull’s leap of faith paid off as Verstappen beat Piastri by 100th of a second across the line.
Let’s see who’s going to lead the driver championship after the race.
A daring dive from Piastri to start the race, Verstappen baring his teeth, desperate to lead the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. But Piastri’s quick reaction to the lights meant he arrived at the Apex first, and Verstappen had to go wide to avoid a crash. Piastri demanded he give the place back, but before they could protest, Red Bull had bigger problems with Tsunoda and Gasly crashing into each other within the first few corners.
Both cars banged into the barrier. Tsunoda managed to get to the pits, but there was nothing that could be done for him to continue, and Gasly’s car was in pieces. The former teammates caused a safety car on the first lap and created havoc for the drivers on the restart, as Verstappen pulled away and the other vehicles were left behind. Russel fought hard with Piastri, but there was no change in position.
Then the dreaded news came for Red Bull, already one teammate down, Verstappen had received a 5-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage on Piastri. And let’s say he wasn’t happy with the result, which would ruin his chances.
Norris was able to take advantage of the cars that had crashed, reaching 6th position by lap 14, and Piastri dived into the pits soon after, desperate to get past Verstappen. A few laps later, Verstappen pitted, but having to serve his 5-second penalty meant he came out further down the order and had to rocket forwards to catch up to the top.
Halfway through, there was a frightening moment between Bortoletto and Alonso, a close clash together, but it was resolved, and no further damage was done. There was a desperate fight between Russell and Leclerc, and with only 10 laps to go, Leclerc lunged forward, overtaking Russell and leaving the Ferrari in 3rd place.
There was a double trouble tactic at Williams, who had Sainz in 8th and Albon in 9th, but Hadjar in 10th was hot on their heels and attempted to overtake Albon several times. As the final laps neared, Williams were brilliant, and Sainz kept Albon within one second of each other, so Albon could use the DRS advantage to help defend his position from Hadjar.
Piastri soared across the line, a brilliant race and superb driving in defending the McLaren title. A disgruntled Verstappen in 2nd place had an unrecoverable drive after the penalty, and Ferrari’s first podium position in a Grand Prix race as Leclerc came 3rd, scoring Ferrari some crucial points.
Norris overtook Russell in the last stint with an excellent drive from 10th to 4th, and again, Mercedes showed its consistency by coming 5th and 6th. Hamilton secured 7th, and the Williams team gained points for both their drivers, giving them an excellent lead in the championship table.
Alonso just missed out in 11th, a much better performance than some of the previous weeks, but an unfortunate end for both Haas drivers, who finished 13th and 14th, scoring no points in Saudi Arabia. The next race will be vital for them to score points and keep within reach of the battle for 5th place with Williams. A damaging deadline for Tsunoda and Gasly, as their race weekend ended after the second corner, but let’s hope we see a better result for them in the next race at Miami.
We look forward to a fun weekend in Miami bursting with energy, celebrities, and sun-filled surprises on track.
Will Norris resemble the same drive that he did at this track last year?
Or will his teammate rival his chances in Miami?
Join us in Miami!
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