The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was all Max Verstappen’s as he romped from pole positition to a dominant victory.
The defending Formula 1 champion led an Oracle Red Bull Racing sweep of the podium as teammate Sergio Perez finished second, over 13 seconds behind Verstappen.
“I think overall of course a fantastic weekend for the whole team, but also from my side, I felt really good with the car, and also basically was the same in the race,” Verstappen said. “Of course the last stint was a bit longer than we would have liked, but with the safety car we had to go for it.
“So the last few laps, also with those back-markers, with the cold tires, it was a little bit slippery but we had good pace so we could manage it quite well. Overall, very, very pleased.”
An early safety car for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll crashing on lap seven brought varying strategies, with Red Bull electing to double-stack in the pits.
It worked in their favor as the cleared Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who finished over five seconds behind Perez. Notably, Perez was assessed a five-second penalty for an unsafe release in the pits in front of Fernando Alonso.
Alonso wheeled his Aston Martin to a solid fifth behind McLaren’s sophomore driver Oscar Piastri.
George Russell was the first Mercedes driver to finish with a sixth-place effort, followed by perhaps the driver of the day, Oliver Bearman.
Bearman was subbing for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari after Sainz was diagnosed with appendicitis on Friday. The 18-year-old started 11th and drove to an impressive points finish in his first F-1 start.
British drivers Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton followed suit in eighth and ninth with Haas F-1’s Nico Hulkenberg scoring the American team its first points of the season in 10th.