The FIA Formula One World Championship has made its second visit to Saudi Arabia in less than five months and is the second stop of the 2022 season. On Friday, race weekend was in turmoil. blurred by a missile attack on the nearby Aramco refinery. While F1 and FIA announced that the weekend will continue as scheduled, the drivers must be persuaded to race in the four-and-a-half hour meeting.
The qualifying round ended with Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez, securing the first pole position of his career and a first for any Mexican driver in F1. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished second in the session. While Ferrari and Red Bull competed for the title, Mercedes was not seen. George Russell made it through to qualifying for fifth, and Lewis Hamilton didn’t make it out of Q1. Mercedes tested Hamilton’s setup to increase grip from behind, but it only resulted in him placing 15th on the grid.
There was a lingering red flag in Q2 after Haas’ Mick Schumacher was involved in a major crash. Schumacher remained conscious and able to speak, but had to be stretched and transported to a nearby medical center for a pre-emptive examination. Schumacher was released from the hospital, but Haas drove only a single car on Sunday.
Schumacher won’t be the only driver not to start the race. Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda missed the warm-up after his car shut down during the pitlane-to-grid warm-up.
The race started fairly smoothly at the top of the field, with only Red Bull’s Max Verstappen edging past Carlos Sainz to finish third. The first segment of the race mainly focused on the Alpine team fight between Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon for sixth place. By the 13th round, Alonso was able to overcome his teammates and close the gap.
Up front, Ferrari seemed to have drawn Red Bull to concede Sergio Pérez from the lead with a stellar punch.int. The Italian team sent their mechanic and radio to Charles Leclerc but never matched the bike. Pérez returned to the track in fifth place behind George Russell. Red Bull’s initial pit call looked even worse after the safety car was deployed. In lap 16, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi lost control of his car and crashed into the exit of the last corner.
The rest of the frontrunners pitted themselves behind the safety car, and Pérez nearly beat Sainz’s pit exit but was forced to give way. Both Hamilton and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen improved their track position by not being pitted. After the restart, Leclerc held on to the lead, with Verstappen in close pursuit.
In round 37, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo both lost control and were forced to stop playing. Also, Valtteri Bottas was forced into the pitlane and retired from his Alfa Romeo. A virtual safety car has been deployed. Magnussen was able to stop, but Hamilton took the pit order too late. The entrance to the pit was closed when officers were dispatched to recover Alonso and Riccioo’s cars on the entrance.
The final night of the race ended with a head-to-head showdown between Leclerc and Verstappen. The Red Bull driver was able to cover Leclerc’s impressive distance, and how close it was last week in Bahrain. The pair raced to stay in the right spot towards the final DRS for several laps. Even so, Verstappen triumphed to win the Saudi Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz has rounded up the podium places. Despite alternative strategies, Magnussen finished ninth, and Hamilton took tenth.
Charles Leclerc leads the World Drivers Championship by 12 points over teammate Carlos Sainz, and Formula 1 will return after two weeks in Australia.
