What happened at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Verstappen lost in the fight, Ferrari flew past the top 5

Alonso’s historic podium.

Before the race at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, intrigue was expected: the first three starting places were taken by Sergio Perez , who was not too strong at the starts, at the dominant Red Bull , the master of the first meters, Fernando Alonso, at the surprising Aston Martin, and just a good starter, George Russell from Mercedes “.

At the same time, Max Verstappen started 15th due to a breakdown of the drive in qualifying (and he was installed used at the Bahrain Grand Prix, which shifted up intermittently), and Charles Leclerc – 12th due to a fine for overspending motor components yes, Ferrari had a mighty start to the season ) – and a separate story lay in the speed of the breakthrough of the favorites. There were also the highest expectations from Alonso – in case of success, the 100th podium was waiting for him!

How did it all work out?

– Alonso won the start from Perez and entered the first turn as a leader!

– But he immediately came under investigation for the wrong position at the start – 5 seconds of a penalty for such a useless departure for the line with the left wheel

– Stroll broke into fourth place by the middle of the first turn – Sainz was behind.

“Leclerc broke into 9th by the end of the first lap, Verstappen moved up to 13th and Hamilton to 7th despite starting on hard.

– The beginning of the 4th lap, the first attack of Perez on Alonso with DRS – and immediately success. Sergio returned the lead.

– Championship favorites on lap 7: Leclerc moved up to 8th, Verstappen on 11th. On the 8th, Max broke into the top 10.

– On lap 9, Leclerc on the “soft” overtook Hamilton on the “hard” and climbed to the 7th. Alonso in parallel increased the gap from Russell to 5 seconds.

– Verstappen got Lewis on the 10th lap. The leader of “Mercedes” was enough for two rounds of defense – the champion broke through to the 8th. At the same time, Leclerc suffered for Ocon’s Alpin – and only on the 13th he broke into the sixth position.

– Sainz deceived the peloton with the opening of a wave of pit stops among the leaders on lap 14 – Ferrari called him into the pits, but Carlos continued. Instead, Stroll entered the pits – he became the first among the leaders and returned 11th.

– Max went around Okon and became 6th on the 14th lap.

– On lap 16, Sainz had already driven for real – and returned in front of Stroll. Suddenly, Ferrari’s deception worked!

“On lap 17, Verstappen caught up with Leclerc and pressed Ferrari. But Charles did not defend himself and drove into the pits – he also returned before Stroll 8th. Windows also drove into the pits.

– On the 18th lap, Stroll’s car broke down and stopped on the track – called the safety car. Verstappen won – he just got to 4th place. The whole peloton took turns going to the pits, Max remained 4th, Sainz moved up to 5th, Hamilton left 6th, Leclerc was 7th, followed by Tsunoda, Okon and Gasly.