Although there was little to separate the two cars in ultimate laptime at Jeddah last weekend, there were notable differences in how they performed at different sections of the track.
With Ferrari opting for a higher downforce configuration, it was better in acceleration and low/medium speed corners, while the Red Bull's low drag solution meant it had higher top speed pace.
In the end, it was Verstappen's end of straight advantage that allowed him the opportunity to draft past Leclerc after getting into the DRS window near the end of the race.
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto noticed that his team and Red Bull diverged on their downforce direction after Friday practice.
Red Bull took wing off their car, while Ferrari elected to keep the downforce on because it believed it would help it better manage tyre degradation, as proved critical at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
But, with the hard tyre used for the majority of the race in Saudi showing almost no drop off in performance, the gains Ferrari should have got in exchange for the downside of lower top speed did not materialise.
Binotto said: "Max was on a slightly higher downforce level on Friday, and then he reduced it.
"We decided ourselves to stay on a higher level of downforce, because we believed that was important for tyre degradation. But finally, in the race, the tyre degradation was very little.
"I think that their choice somehow merits some analysis from our side. But overall, it's always a compromise.
"It's only a matter of details and the right pieces that can decide the race at the end."
Verstappen did not believe Red Bull was any more competitive in Saudi Arabia than it had been in Bahrain, as he suggested that the race came down to how well each car performance on tyres.
"Difficult to say if it's a step forward," he said. "But I think we are always learning and of course every track is different as well in terms of what you need from the car, so still a lot of things to look at."
He explained that as soon as he switched on to the hard tyre that did not need looking after, his pace was much better.
"I didn't really feel that happy on the medium," he said. "All the time, when you would get close to the car ahead, the tyres would die. So there was not much racing going on there.
"It was a little bit frustrating to just sit there and wait for the right lap to pit so you could go onto the other tyres, because as soon as we went on to the hard tyre, I had a much better feeling."
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said it was clear that his squad and Ferrari has varied their approach for the first two races, and now needed to think about how best to deal with the next event in Australia.
"It's been interesting to see these first two races," he said. "Certainly here we came with a decision of running lower downforce, and that worked today.
"Melbourne is going to be a different challenge. It's been modified, it's a quicker circuit now as well. So it's going to be equally fascinating."
