Just two weeks after the Formula One season started, the cars are back in action under the lights at the very fast circuit in Saudi Arabia for the FORMULA 1 STC SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX 2023. Red Bull was looking to repeat their dominant 1-2 finish in Bahrain, but qualifying woes for Max Verstappen forced him to start well out of position.
Fernando Alonso got away well from the front row of the grid. Sergio Perez moved over to the right side of the main straight to try and cover off his lead from pole position, but the Aston Martin was already alongside of the Red Bull. Alonso took the lead of the race on the inside of the first corner.
Lance Stroll in the other Aston Martin made a spectacular move around the outside of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari on the opening lap, taking P4 in the race.
The race start didn’t go well for McLaren. Oscar Piastri was squeezed wide in the first few corners by the Alpine of Pierre Gasly, damaging the front wing of the McLaren. Piastri had to make a pit stop to replace his front wing, dropping to the rear of the field. Lando Norris also had to make an early pit stop after hitting the debris from his teammate.
Things also turned sour for Alonso, who was given a five-second time penalty for starting out of the position on the grid. The former World Champion was too far to the right in his grid slot. It seems the stewards have been watching the starts closely this season, with Esteban Ocon having been penalized for a similar infraction in the season opener a couple of weeks ago.
Alonso only managed to stay in the lead of the race for a few laps, as Perez was able to use the power of the Red Bull and the speed advantaged offered by the DRS to dive down the inside of the Aston Martin in the first corner. Perez locked up severely in the first corner, but he was able to fend off the Spaniard behind.
Charles Leclerc was making good progress through the field, having received a grid drop penalty for a power unit penalty after his engine failure at the previous race in Bahrain. He was one of the only drivers not to start the race on the medium tyres, opting for the soft compound tyres. He made his way past Lewis Hamilton, who also started on a different tyre, using the hard compound tyre. The former World Champion had been warned for weaving down the straights as he struggled to get heat into the tyres.
Stroll was the first of the lead cars to make his scheduled pit stop, ditching the medium tyres for a set of hard tyres on lap 14. He was trying to undercut Carlos Sainz, but Sainz pitted a couple of laps later and rejoined well ahead of the Aston Martin. Leclerc pitted the lap after his teammate, taking a set of hard tyres.
Disaster struck for Stroll when he was forced to stop with an engine issue only a few laps after pitting. He came to a stop in an marshal post on the outside of turn 13. Despite being well off the circuit, race control made the somewhat controversial decision to deploy the full safety car. This helped a ton of cars who were prepared to make their pit stops under the green flag.
Perez was able to make a cheap pit stop without losing the lead of the race, while Fernando Alonso was able to pit and serve his five-second time penalty during his pit stop. The safety car was also helpful for Max Verstappen, who had started out of position due to an driveshaft failure in qualifying and was now in the mix of things again after pushing his way through the field.
But the safety car was not beneficial for everyone. Leclerc lost a position to Hamilton because Ferrari did not communicate to Leclerc to let him know that Hamilton had pitted. Leclerc could have prevented the overtake if he had closed the gap to his teammate ahead.
The race resumed on lap 21 and Perez was able to get a fantastic start to pull out a strong lead over Alonso. Hamilton was doing well on the first lap after having swapped out the hard tyres he was unhappy with at the start. On the second lap under green flags, Hamilton was able to get alongside Carlos Sainz without DRS. The Brit backed out of the move in the first corner, opting for a better exit out of the second corner, which was enough to take the position.
Verstappen, now up to P4, was happy to stay behind the Mercedes of George Russell during the first handful of laps without DRS. But when the DRS was enabled again, he cruised past the Mercedes and then Alonso a couple of laps later. This put Verstappen into second place behind his teammate after starting from P15 on the grid.
Alex Albon was the next driver to have a mechanical failure in the race, suffering a brake failure on lap 27. Despite this, he stayed out an additional lap before crawling back to the pit lane.
The second half of the race was relatively orderly, with everyone holding their position and the two Red Bull cars running away with it out in front. With 15 laps remaining in the race, Verstappen began complaining of a potential driveshaft issue. The team denied that it was a mechanical issue, with the defending World Champion likely being paranoid of a repeat driveshaft failure. Sergio Perez also complained about a long brake pedal, which the team chalked up to regular brake wear.
Despite the complaints, neither Red Bull driver lost any time to the cars behind and they were able to run away with another 1-2 finish this season. This time, it was Perez leading the way. An extra point for the fastest lap would have been enough to give him the lead in the World Drivers’ Championship, making him the first Mexican Formula One driver to lead the World Drivers’ Championship since Pedro Rodriguez way back in 1967. However, Verstappen set the fastest lap on the final lap of the race to maintain his championship lead. It was once again Fernando Alonso on the third step of the podium, again proving the strong pace of the Aston Martin this season.
There was some concern over whether or not Alonso was allowed to serve his five-second penalty during the safety car, potentially meaning that the penalty could be reapplied. With Russell less than five-second behind the Spaniard, both drivers were pushing hard in the final lap. Alonso was able to stretch out the gap to more than five-seconds, covering off the original five-second penalty if the stewards decided to reapply it.
Alonso stood proudly on the bottom step of the podium, but his joy was short-lived as the stewards awarded him a 10-second penalty after the podium ceremony for incorrectly serving their penalty. This influenced the results, with George Russell being promoted to P3 and Alonso dropping to P4. This promotes Russell to P4 in the World Drivers’ Championship and puts Mercedes into second in the World Constructors’ Championship ahead of Aston Martin.
Next on the calendar is the Australian Grand Prix on the weekend of April 2.
UPDATE: After the race, Aston Martin successfully appealed the 10-second penalty awarded to Fernando Alonso. The FIA reinstated Alonso’s 100th career podium.
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| Race Results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S. Perez | 25 | |
| 2 | M. Verstappen | 19 | |
| 3 | F. Alonso | 15 | |
| 4 | G. Russell | 12 | |
| 5 | L. Hamilton | 10 | |
| 6 | C. Sainz | 8 | |
| 7 | C. Leclerc | 6 | |
| 8 | E. Ocon | 4 | |
| 9 | P. Gasly | 2 | |
| 10 | K. Magnussen | 1 | |
| 11 | Y. Tsunoda | ||
| 12 | N. Hulkenberg | ||
| 13 | G. Zhou | ||
| 14 | N. de Vries | ||
| 15 | O. Piastri | ||
| 16 | L. Sargeant | ||
| 17 | L. Norris | ||
| 18 | V. Bottas | ||
| DNF | A. Albon | ||
| DNF | L. Stroll | ||
