Max Verstappen wins Saudi-Arabian Grand Prix: 'We finally kickstarted the season'

Published on 27 March 2022 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen has made up for his DNF last week in Bahrain by winning the Saudi-Arabian Grand Prix. The Dutchman started the race on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit from fourth on the grid and overtook Carlos Sainz straight from the start to P3. Because of an unfortunately timed pitstop of teammate Sergio Pérez, Max went up into second position, before entering into a thrilling fight with Charles Leclerc in the final phase of the race. Verstappen overtakes the Ferrari four laps before the end and continues to stay ahead for the rest of the race to take his 21st win in his Formula 1 career. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz completed the podium for Ferrari.

“It was a tough but good race”, says a happy Verstappen after the race. “We were a bit lucky with the safety car, so we could move up into second position. But it was a shame of course for Checo, but after that we had some good pace. We tried to follow. I saw Charles pushing hard in the quick corners, and I tried to save my tyres. After the virtual safety car, it was clear he had some tyre issues. I had a couple of opportunities to attack, but Charles played smart tricks in the last corner. It was not easy to get past Charles, but in the end I managed to get ahead. I am happy we finally kickstarted the season.”

The fact that with the new regulations it is easier for cars to follow, does not mean it is easier to overtake, according to the Oracle Red Bull Racing driver: “It is easier this year to come out of a corner well when you are within half a second of the car ahead. That makes it more difficult than last year to attack from the last corner. It makes it harder to plan an overtake.”

Max expects to have a formidable opponent in Ferrari: “Every circuit is different, but it is clear that we are very close. I have to say that the degradation of the tyres at Ferrari looks good, that is a thing we must look into. But we did well this weekend.”

A little over eight o’clock local time the lights go out for the second Grand Prix of the season. Max Verstappen has a good start and overtakes the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in turn two to get into P3. Polesitter Sergio Pérez stays in the lead ahead of Charles Leclerc. Behind the Red Bulls and Ferraris are Esteban Ocon, George Russell, Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas to form the rest of the top eight. The whole field gets through the first phase of the race without incidents.

Sergio Pérez is still leading the field after ten laps. The Mexican is just under two and a half seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc, who in turn is two seconds ahead of the RB18 of Max Verstappen. The pace of the top four is high, considering that the gap to George Russell in P5 is well over ten seconds.

In lap sixteen the safety car comes out, as Nicolas Latifi crashes when exiting the last corner. The Williams driver is unharmed, but his car is total loss, and must be lifted of the track. Almost everyone decides to make a pitstop for a fresh set of hard tyres, including Max Verstappen. Bad luck for Sergio Pérez, who just made his pitstop one lap before the crash and falls back to P3. Max moves up to second position. Charles Leclerd is the new race leader.

At the end of lap twenty the race is restarted. Leclerc stays in the lead, ahead of Verstappen. The Dutchman stays close, but is not close enough to enable DRS.

Suddenly three cars come to a halt because of technical issues. It starts with Fernando Alonso who slows down because of loss of power, a couple of seconds later the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo comes to halt in front of the pit entry. Valtteri Bottas can get into the pits but has to retire the car.

After a short virtual safety car period the race is restarted. Max has closed the gap to Leclerc and overtakes the Monegasque just before entering the last corner in lap 42. Leclerc can retake the lead on the straight with the help of DRS. What follows is a thrilling battle, Max takes the lead with four laps to go and continues to stay ahead of Charles. Verstappen wins the race in Jeddah and takes important points after the DNF in the previous race. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz complete the podium. Sergio Pérez, George Russell and Esteban Ocon complete the top six. Mick Schumacher and Yuki Tsuonda do not even enter the race, the German crashed hard in qualifying, his Haas not being repaired in time. Tsunoda come to halt because of technical issues on his way to the grid.

Results Grand Prix Saudi Arabia: