F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Max Verstappen Cruises to 2nd Win of the Season, Red Bull Clinches 1-2 Finish
In the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Red Bull's defending world champion Max Verstappen easily defeated Sergio Perez by a margin of 13.6 seconds.
By Divyam Dubey
At the 2024 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Red Bull's Max Verstappen dominated, finishing first, with Sergio Perez a distant second and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc completing the podium. The three-time world champion Verstappen was unaffected and in control as he won for the second race in a row to kick off the 2024 season, despite the continuing controversy surrounding the Red Bull organisation. Verstappen had a significant advantage whenever Perez stepped up his chase because he was comfortably ahead of his teammate by around five seconds.
In the middle of the race, Red Bull's vehicles were significantly quicker than their rivals, including Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, and Aston Martin driven by Fernando Alonso, which was a full second faster per lap. They looked to comfortably pull away from the opposition and build a considerable lead thanks to their dominant performance.
F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Race Result
After falling behind Perez early on, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc finished a distant third, settling for the last podium spot. Fourth place went to Oscar Piastri of McLaren, while fifth place went to Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, who showed great form, almost edging out George Russell of Mercedes. But the day's most impressive performance came from British driver Oliver Bearman, who stunned everyone by finishing seventh in his first Formula 1 race. While Carlos Sainz was out with an illness, Bearman became the youngest British Formula One driver and brushed off challenges from fellow countrymen Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Points |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 20:43.3 | 25 |
| 2 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing | +13.643s | 18 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +18.639s | 16 |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +32.007s | 12 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +35.759s | 10 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | +39.936s | 8 |
| 7 | Oliver Bearman | Ferrari | +42.679s | 6 |
| 8 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +45.708s | 4 |
| 9 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +47.391s | 2 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | +76.996s | 1 |
| 11 | Alexander Albon | Williams | +88.354s | 0 |
| 12 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +105.737s | 0 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +1 lap | 0 |
| 14 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda | +1 lap | 0 |
| 15 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | +1 lap | 0 |
| 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB Honda | +1 lap | 0 |
| 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | +1 lap | 0 |
| 18 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber | +1 lap | 0 |
| 19 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | DNF | 0 |
| 20 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | DNF | 0 |
After Lance Stroll's incident, a possibility presented itself for a tier-three 2024 vehicle to get a point; Nico Hulkenberg's Haas took advantage of this opportunity. With the help of teammate Kevin Magnussen, who gave up his own race to slow down the rest of the middle, Hulkenberg skillfully kept track position even though the safety car didn't stop for tyres. Although Magnussen received two penalties for collisions with Alex Albon's Williams and Yuki Tsunoda's RB, he delayed the effects of these penalties until the end of the race. Haas earned their first point towards the title this season because to a strategy that included Magnussen's contentious driving and other strategies that may have irritated their opponents.
