Amid turmoil at Red Bull, the double world champion continued where he left off a week ago in Bahrain to lead another 1-2 ahead of Sergio Perez.
Charles Leclerc led the charge for Ferrari, finishing third on a weekend where his regular team-mate Carlos Sainz was replaced by Oliver Bearman, who made his F1 debut and finished in seventh place as one of the stars of the race.
Our writers give their verdict on the second round of the 2024 season.
Better... but that's not saying much: 4/10 - Matt Kew
Better than the spectacularly unspectacular benchmark set in the Bahrain opener - at this rate of improvement, we'll be due a proper blockbuster come the European rounds. To truly be thrilled by Formula 1 in its current state, it feels like we must simply make our peace with the fact that Verstappen will very probably lead from the front and drawn-out battles for the lead will be in short supply. Only then can lower-stake battles in the midfield stand a chance of getting pulses racing.
Saudi was very far from being a great contest. But there were elements to latch onto. Watching Bearman's day unfold was a major one. Given he started 11th and then didn't fluff his launch, seventh was nigh on the best he could have hoped for. His dummy on Yuki Tsunoda into Turn 1 was masterfully done. Lewis Hamilton's defensive manoeuvres were similarly satisfying.
Perhaps picking out those aspects is to clutch at straws. Ultimately, although a shunt for Lance Stroll created that teasing early safety car, Jeddah ran largely without jeopardy.
How dull would it have been if Stroll hadn't crashed? 3/10 - Alex Kalinauckas
Utterly predictable once Verstappen had escaped after the start and restart, although for him to be passing Norris for the lead obviously wasn't expected.
Other than that, F1 barely saw Verstappen, who reckoned his tyres losing temperature as he held back from normal pace while lapping traffic late on was his biggest peril. It's all relative after all…
Much was expected of Ferrari's challenge, but here it actually struggled to get its tyres warm, which meant Leclerc had the opposite problem to its historical weakness. In the other SF-24, Oliver Bearman's fine debut was the most compelling narrative.
Stroll's crash meant Norris and Hamilton were boosted into the story of the race, which would've been even duller had that not happened.
Anti-racing Magnussen gives life to a race that sparked out early: 3/10 - Haydn Cobb
It isn't often a driver will be given credit for picking up multiple in-race penalties and generally just blocking everyone, but well done Kevin Magnussen for keeping things interesting. His ill-judged fighting effectively put himself out of points contention but it didn't stop Haas from using him as a rolling roadblock to aid Nico Hulkenberg's charge to 10th and score the first point in the midfield battle.
The history book will note this race for Bearman's impressive F1 debut for Ferrari but beyond that, the top nine had very little needle between it as the gaps ballooned post-safety car. Verstappen dominated once again and nobody could hold a candle to him – or each other – as racing wheel-to-wheel with these cars appeared to be getting harder.
Stroll's comedic "I'm in the ******* wall," as his excuse for not being able to drive his crashed Aston Martin back to the pits was a highlight.
Verstappen still too strong: 3/10 - Ben Vinel
This wasn't a memorable grand prix by any means, as it turned out to be another demonstration by Max Verstappen and Red Bull with little suspense for the win.
The early safety car intervention deprived us of potential strategic variations, even though this race was never going to be a tactical thriller, as an obvious one-stop. Lando Norris and Hamilton not pitting under a safety car was a point of interest, but it didn't create too much excitement. Verstappen easily took the lead back a few laps later.
We were at least treated to a few feisty battles in the second half of the pack, but the lack of entertainment in the top 10 is a major downside.
Bearman's performance standing in for Sainz at Ferrari was refreshing, and we'll look forward to seeing the 18-year-old Briton race in Formula 1 again.
And that among all the off-track drama: 3/10 - Pablo Elizalde
If you are the type of F1 fan who gets excited about a good battle for 12th position, then by all means the Saudi Arabian GP provided a good show. If you have a higher standard for what a decent Formula 1 race should be, however, you may have been let down once more.
The fact that Verstappen - or for that matter most of the top five - was barely seen on TV during the entire broadcast is by now a classic sign that this might be a very long year for anyone who's not a hardcore Verstappen fan.
Considering what is going on with Red Bull off the track, it is telling of its and Verstappen's superiority that he breezed to his second win in a row to lead the second consecutive 1-2 for the team.
That there won't be a championship fight this year is clear to nearly everybody at this point. The question, much like in 2023, has already become whether anyone other than Verstappen will win a race on merit.
