After a strong showing in Bahrain, all eyes were on Ferrari and Red Bull at the FORMULA 1 STC SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX 2022. It was a hard fought victory for Max Verstappen after a late-race battle for the lead with championship leader Charles Leclerc. There were other battles throughout the field, showing that the new regulations have improved the quality of racing this season.
Nico Hulkenberg was again sitting in for Sebastian Vettel who also missed the first race in Bahrain after testing positive for COVID-19. There was only one Haas on the starting grid, with Mick Schumacher suffering a big accident in qualifying. AlphaTauri was also down to only a single car for the first, after Yuki Tsunoda’s car had a mechanical issue when driving to the grid.
Sergio Perez got away well from pole position on the grid. Charles Leclerc was slightly slower and moved to the outside on the entry to the first corner, forcing his teammate to take a wider line in the corner. Max Verstappen saw this as an opportunity to overtake Carlos Sainz in the first corners and climb up into the podium positions.
Zhou Guanyu had a slow start in his Alfa Romeo. He nudged Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren in the first corner and then had some issues shifting gears out of the second corner, dropping to the rear of the field.
Three laps into the race, George Russell made a dive on the inside of the final corner, getting by Esteban Ocon and up into the top five. This dropped Ocon back into striking distance of his teammate.
Fans were treated to an entertaining battle between the two Alpine drivers in the early stages of the race. On lap five, Fernando Alonso was closing in on his teammate with some assistance from the DRS. He moved to the left side of the straight, but Ocon made a late defensive move to close the gap, forcing his teammate to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision.
A couple of laps later, Alonso zoomed by Ocon on the right side of the main straight this time. Ocon attempted to fight back around the outside of the second corner, but Alonso squeezed him outside. The following lap, the Alpine drivers were at it again down the main straight, with both drivers weaving left and right down the straight. Ocon got by Alonso, but went too deep and had to cut the first corner. He gave the place back to Alonso later in the lap.
While the two teammates were battling, Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen behind had managed to join the battle. Down the main straight on lap 11, all four cars were fighting for position on the run down to the first corner, but the position remained the same. Ocon made another lunge attempt in the first corner the following lap, but he went too deep again cutting the corner and allowing Alonso to regain the position.
With the racing between the Alpine teammates getting intense and the duo slowing each other up, the team stepped in to tell Ocon to hold his position. He fell prey to Bottas down the main straight with DRS assistance the following lap.
Meanwhile, Perez was the first of the lead cars to pit for hard compound tyres on lap 15. He rejoined the race narrowly behind George Russell. However, it was unfortunate timing, as Nicholas Latifi got a snap of oversteer in the final corner that sent him into the barriers. The virtual safety car was deployed and that was upgraded to the full safety car shortly after.
This allowed Leclerc, Verstappen and Sainz to make cheap pit stops for fresh hard tyres. Sainz came out of the pits alongside Perez and Perez forced Sainz out side in the second corner. Perez restarted ahead of Sainz, but gave back the position in the first few corners with Red Bull feeling that Perez was behind Sainz at the safety car line and not wanting to take a penalty for that.
On the restart, Leclerc got the jump on Verstappen. Further back, Russell made a good move into the first corner. Both were on the hard tyres, but Magnussen did not pit under the safety car.
Lewis Hamilton didn’t pit under the safety car either, having started on the hard tyres. He found himself in P7 for the restart, having made a decent recovery drive after a poor qualifying performance on Saturday. After a few laps behind the Haas of Magnussen, Hamilton gained a position in the final corner. However, that gave Magnussen the DRS down the main straight, allowing him to take back the position. The next time around, Hamilton eased off in the final corner, ensuring he would have DRS down the main straight, securing P6 in the first corner.
On lap 36, there was string of retirements. Fernando Alonso lost power down the main straight and had to limp around the entire lap. Daniel Ricciardo also lost power on the exit of the final corner, coming to a stop at the pit entry. Valtteri Bottas also pulled into the Alfa Romeo garage to retire from the race.
Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg both made their pit stops with the double yellow flags waving. Alonso finally got his car around to the pit entry, but could make it no further and parked in the pit entry. As a result, the virtual safety car was deployed and the pit lane was closed to allow marshals to clear the two stranded cars.
This hurt Hamilton’s pit strategy. He was planning to make his pit stop just as the cars parked on the pit entry. The virtual safety car ended with just 10 laps remaining in the race and the pit lane was opened, forcing Hamilton to pit under the green flag.
When the race restarted, Leclerc and Verstappen began battling for the lead of the race. Verstappen overtook Leclerc into the final corner, but that gave Leclerc DRS down the main straight to retake the position. The following lap, both drivers locked up as they slammed on the brakes at the DRS detection line to try and get DRS. Verstappen was behind Leclerc at the line, but his run down the straight was compromised and he couldn’t challenge down the straight.
It took a few laps for Verstappen to close back onto the rear of the Ferrari. On lap 46, Verstappen eased off before the final corner to ensure he had DRS down the straight and he zoomed into the lead of the race. Leclerc was not able to get as close to the back of the Red Bull in the closing laps.
Leclerc’s best chance down the main straight on the penultimate lap was ruined by yellow flags in the first sector when Lance Stroll and Alex Albon collided in the first corner. Albon was trying to overtake Stroll on the inside.
Leclerc had one more attempt with the DRS as the duo raced down towards the finish line on the final lap, but he had to settle for second position, also earning an extra point for the fastest lap. Max Verstappen earned his first win of 2022, bouncing back from a mechanical failure in Bahrain. Carlos Sainz was on the bottom step of the podium.
With two races in the 2022 season now complete, it’s clear that this will be a season to watch. The teams and drivers have earned themselves a much deserved week off before heading to Australia for the first Australian Grand Prix since 2019. The race will be on the weekend of April 10.
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| Race Results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M. Verstappen | 25 | |
| 2 | C. Leclerc | 19 | |
| 3 | C. Sainz | 15 | |
| 4 | S. Perez | 12 | |
| 5 | G. Russell | 10 | |
| 6 | E. Ocon | 8 | |
| 7 | L. Norris | 6 | |
| 8 | P. Gasly | 4 | |
| 9 | K. Magnussen | 2 | |
| 10 | L. Hamilton | 1 | |
| 11 | G. Zhou | ||
| 12 | N. Hulkenberg | ||
| 13 | L. Stroll | ||
| DNF | A. Albon | ||
| DNF | V. Bottas | ||
| DNF | F. Alonso | ||
| DNF | D. Ricciardo | ||
| DNF | N. Latifi | ||
