Perez wins Saudi F1 Grand Prix as Verstappen leads World Championship

Mexican Sergio Pérez won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the second round of the Formula 1 World Championship, this Sunday, but Dutchman Max Verstappen retained his championship lead in a new double for Red Bull.

Pérez, who took his fifth win and first since Singapore (2022), completed the scheduled 50 laps in 1:21.14.894 hours, leaving Verstappen 5.355 seconds behind and the two-time champion left isolated at the top of the leaderboard. to the bonus point for the best lap of the race.

The last place on the podium went to the “secretary” of the British George Russell (Mercedes), who moved up to third place after the punishment of the Spaniard Fernando Alonso. It ended 25.866 seconds behind the winner.

The Spaniard, who put his Aston Martin slightly off the grid, got off to a better start than Sergio Pérez, the pole positioner, and took command as early as the first corner.

“I made a mistake,” Alonso suggested in quick interviews after the race ended.

Perez needed four laps to regain command, already with the help of the DRS system (a mechanical system that reduces the air resistance of a car that follows an opponent in less than a second).

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen, who started from 15th on the grid, started a race that left him in second place after completing 25 of the scheduled 50 laps.

The safety car, which was called in to intervene on lap 17 after Canadian Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin broke down, saved time at the tire change pits and ended up driving two Ferraris into the corner behind two Mercedes.

The second half of the race turned into a long-distance duel between the two championship dominants.

Pérez, in the lead of the race, consistently set the best lap, which was immediately pulled by Verstappen, who was five seconds behind his teammate.

Pérez’s lead dwindled to four seconds with 10 laps to go, but Verstappen began to complain about a stiffer shifting feel.

It was because of the failure of the transmission shaft on Saturday that the world champion ended up in 15th place on the starting grid.

The team demanded a more moderate pace from their two drivers, who were more than 15 seconds ahead of the third car on the track, Alonso’s Aston Martin.

Pérez was surprised by the high pace the two Red Bulls were riding, suggesting there was no need to strain the material in the face of a controlled race.

The truth is that with only a sense of mechanical problems, Verstappen slowed down and settled in second place.

“At some point we decided to settle for second place, but even so it was a great comeback,” the Dutchman stressed.

However, on the last lap, Verstappen picked up the pace again to steal the fastest lap of the race from his teammate and, with the extra point this item is worth, to keep the championship lead.

Tensions between the two Red Bull drivers were evident before the podium ceremony when Pérez questioned Verstappen about this late attack in light of the team’s recommendation to drive at a more moderate pace.

“Became [uma corrida] harder than I expected. The team did an incredible job,” Perez said at the end.

Already Verstappen, who only greeted Alonso in the room in front of the podium, seemed to be little bothered by the inconvenience of the Mexican.

Britain’s Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) was fifth, more than half a minute behind the winner, followed by two Ferraris, Spaniard Carlos Sainz (sixth) and Monegasque Charles Leclerc, who lost ground to a teammate in tire change height.

France’s Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly of Alpine finished eighth and ninth respectively, while Denmark’s Kevin Magnussen (Haas) added the last available point to finish in 10th place.

With these results, Max Verstappen retains his lead in the championship after two controversial races with 44 points, one more than Sergio Pérez’s 43.

Despite a penalty, Alonso finished third with 27 points.

The next race is the Australian Grand Prix on April 2nd.