This second Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia in Jeddah was generally quite calm but the main twist came on the 16th lap and the main victim was poleman Sergio Pérez. The Red Bull driver, who seemed on track to claim his third F1 victory, had just stopped to change tires when Nicholas Latifi (Williams) crashed into the wall of tires a few moments later. The race was neutralized and his rivals took the opportunity to refuel, pushing the Mexican out of the podium at the same time.
Pérez’s lack of pot suited Charles Leclerc, who didn’t ask for so much to propel himself to the front of the race. Always flanked by Max Verstappen, the Ferrari driver had a hard time with his counterpart from Red Bull from the 42nd lap. The two drivers exchanged heads on more than one occasion. Verstappen ended up finding the ascendancy at the start of the 47th lap and it was final for the Dutchman.
After a catastrophic start to Sakhir, the reigning world champion is finally launching his season and opening his counter. This shows that you will have to rely on the Red Bull RB18 when the reliability is there. Charles Leclerc is defeated with honors but saves the point of the fastest lap in the race. The driver n°16 remains the leader of the championship. Carlos Sainz completes the podium and allows Ferrari to score big points in the constructors’ classification. The unlucky Pérez fails at the foot of the podium.
George Russell saves some units for Mercedes by taking fifth place. But the W13 has never been able to keep pace with the leaders. After a duel until the last corner with Lando Norris (McLaren), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) took sixth place. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) opened his counter and finished eighth ahead of Kevin Magnussen (Haas). Having gone very far after a disastrous qualification, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) completes the Top 10.
Classification: