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Charles Bradley

F1 Grand Prix race results: Verstappen wins Saudi Arabian GP

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez led from his first F1 career pole position start but his race came undone after making his pitstop just before a safety car, which promoted Leclerc to the lead ahead of Verstappen and Sainz.

Verstappen passed Leclerc after an intense battle where, like in Bahrain, they swapped the lead between them. Verstappen made the decisive move with four laps to go following a wild game of chicken over who reached the DRS line first.

2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix race results

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 50  
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 50 0.549
3 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 50 8.097
4 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 50 10.800
5 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 50 32.732
6 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 50 56.017
7 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 50 56.124
8 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 50 1'02.946
9 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 50 1'04.308
10 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 50 1'13.948
11 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 50 1'22.215
12 Germany Nico Hulkenberg Aston Martin 50 1'31.742
13 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 49 1 lap
14 Thailand Alex Albon Williams 47  
  Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 36  
  Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 35  
  Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 35  
  Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 14  
  Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 0  

How the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix unfolded

Perez held his pole advantage on the run to Turn 1, ahead of Leclerc. Verstappen passed Sainz around the outside of Turn 2, with Esteban Ocon (Alpine) holding fifth from George Russell (Mercedes), Fernando Alonso (Alpine), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri). Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton gained a spot to run 14th at the end of the opening lap after his troubled qualifying.

Russell grabbed fifth from Ocon at the end of Lap 3. Alonso then got DRS on Ocon, but his teammate defending his sixth position hard for two laps before Alonso made it stick on Lap 7. Ocon re-attacked and regained the position using the run-off at Turn 1.

Ocon let Alonso past, while ensuring he got DRS, and their fight allowed Bottas and Magnussen (the first car to start on hard tyres) on to their tail.

Perez opened up a 2.3s lead over Leclerc by Lap 10, with Verstappen a further 2s back. Hamilton, who started on hards, worked himself up to 12th and then passed Lando Norris’s McLaren and Gasly to rise into the top 10 by Lap 15.

Ocon and Alonso had another turf war on Lap 12, after which Ocon was then told to “hold position”. That didn’t work out, as Bottas passed Ocon for seventh at Turn 1.

Perez pitted for hard tyres on Lap 16, after Ferrari had pretended to call in Leclerc. Just after his stop, Nicholas Latifi put his Williams into the fence, causing a virtual safety car and then a full safety car. Leclerc, Verstappen and Sainz all pitted for hards, with Perez feeding back into the field in third – coming very close to Sainz on the pit exit.

Sainz was ahead of Perez at the safety car line, but the positions weren’t swapped before the restart on Lap 20, but he let him through soon after. Russell passed the non-stopping Magnussen for fifth at Turn 1. Hamilton also gained spots having not pitted yet, and now ran seventh behind Magnussen.

Hamilton passed Magnussen on Lap 23 but the Dane repassed him into Turn 1. Lewis got wise to this and waited until Turn 1 on the following tour to make his move to gain sixth by half distance.

Alonso DRS-ed past Magnussen on Lap 35 for seventh but Magnussen repassed him as Fernando slowed a tour later. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo then ground to a halt at the pit entry, just as Bottas was retired from a points-paying position. Magnussen pitted for mediums, but Hamilton missed the chance as the pits were closed and a virtual safety car was called.

The race went green again on Lap 41, with Verstappen right on Leclerc’s tail and passed him into the final corner on Lap 42 but Leclerc DRS-ed past into Turn 1. On the following lap, both locked up to try and make the other lose DRS, with Leclerc blinking first and Verstappen almost spinning as he too got back on the power.

Verstappen didn’t fall for Leclerc backing off at the end of Lap 46 and DRS-ed past him into Turn 1 with four laps to go.

Alex Albon and Lance Stroll collided at Turn 1 on Lap 48, just as the lead looked poised to change again. Leclerc got DRS starting the final lap but couldn’t find a way past, and Verstappen just clung on to claim a superb victory by 0.549s.

Sainz finished third, ahead of the luckless Perez, Russell, Ocon, Norris, Gasly, Magnussen and Hamilton. Several of those are under investigation for going too quickly under yellows at the end.

There were two non-starters: Mick Schumacher after his qualifying crash and Yuki Tsunoda, whose AlphaTauri suffered a loss of oil pressure on his installation lap to the grid.

2022 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix fastest laps

Cla Driver Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Monaco Charles Leclerc 48 1'31.634     242.556
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen 50 1'31.772 0.138 0.138 242.191
3 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. 48 1'31.905 0.271 0.133 241.841
4 Mexico Sergio Perez 46 1'32.042 0.408 0.137 241.481
5 United Kingdom Lando Norris 46 1'32.753 1.119 0.711 239.629
6 Denmark Kevin Magnussen 48 1'32.779 1.145 0.026 239.562
7 United Kingdom George Russell 43 1'32.821 1.187 0.042 239.454
8 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 47 1'32.997 1.363 0.176 239.001
9 France Esteban Ocon 46 1'33.103 1.469 0.106 238.729
10 France Pierre Gasly 42 1'33.468 1.834 0.365 237.796
11 Germany Nico Hulkenberg 47 1'33.651 2.017 0.183 237.332
12 Spain Fernando Alonso 33 1'33.831 2.197 0.180 236.876
13 China Zhou Guanyu 45 1'33.924 2.290 0.093 236.642
14 Finland Valtteri Bottas 31 1'33.979 2.345 0.055 236.503
15 Thailand Alex Albon 46 1'34.368 2.734 0.389 235.528
16 Canada Lance Stroll 46 1'34.446 2.812 0.078 235.334
17 Australia Daniel Ricciardo 34 1'34.487 2.853 0.041 235.232
18 Canada Nicholas Latifi 9 1'37.530 5.896 3.043 227.892

2022 Formula 1  Saudi Arabian Grand Prix pitstops

Cla Driver Chassis 1 2 3
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull M 16 H 34    
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari M 16 H 34    
3 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari M 16 H 34    
4 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull M 15 H 35    
5 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes M 16 H 34    
6 France Esteban Ocon Alpine M 16 H 34    
7 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren M 16 H 34    
8 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri M 15 H 35    
9 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas H 39 M 15    
10 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes H 41 M 10    
11 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo M 16 H 11 H 34
12 Germany Nico Hulkenberg Aston Martin H 38 M 14    
13 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin M 14 H 37    
14 Thailand Alex Albon Williams M 13 H 34    
  Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo M 16 H 19 M 1
  Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine M 16 H 19    
  Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren M 8 H 27    
  Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams M 14        
  Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri            
  Germany Mick Schumacher Haas            
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