Verstappen defeats Leclerc in breathless Saudi Arabia finish

Max Verstappen overcame Charles Leclerc in a repeat of their duel from the Formula 1 season opener to win the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Verstappen got onto Leclerc’s tail at the start of the race by nipping past the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz into third.

Leclerc and Verstappen then followed polesitter Sergio Perez’s Red Bull for the first stint, before Perez’s victory bid ended when he made his first pitstop just prior to Nicholas Latifi crashing his Williams and causing a safety car.

LAP 16/50

⚠️ SAFETY CAR ⚠️

Latifi has hit the barriers exiting the final corner

The Canadian is ok #SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/bpZaA1NyaF

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 27, 2022

All the other frontrunners were able to pit under the caution, with Leclerc and Verstappen coming out in front of Perez.

Sainz crossed the safety car line at the pit exit just ahead of Perez as the Red Bull came past on the racetrack, meaning Perez was asked to let Sainz take third from him at the subsequent restart.

Verstappen lurked within 1-2s of Leclerc thereafter as both conserved tyres having pitted earlier than ideal due to the safety car.

The race for victory only came alive after a late virtual safety car caused by Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo both parking in the pit entry with mechanical problems.

Verstappen began launching attacks once the race went green for the final nine laps.

Leclerc initially repeated his trick from Bahrain, letting Verstappen pass him into the final corner before the DRS line so he could use the DRS to instantly repass on the next straight.

Next time around, both slowed and locked up to try to avoid being first over the DRS line, in a ludicrous scene that Leclerc emerged from still ahead of Verstappen.

Finally on lap 47 of 50 Verstappen managed to outfox Leclerc, get DRS without losing momentum and grab the lead for good.

Leclerc stayed right with him, hampered slightly by yellow flags for Alex Albon and Lance Stroll colliding, and crossed the line just half a second behind, but had to settle for second.

Sainz and Perez maintained their third and fourth places to the finish, but the stewards have “noted” their failure to observe yellow flags.

George Russell took a lonely fifth for Mercedes, while team-mate Lewis Hamilton had a highly eventful race.

He made good early progress through the midfield from 15th on the grid, then along with Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg opted to roll the dice on strategy and stay out under the early safety car.

Hamilton ran sixth, having overtaken Magnussen after a tough battle, but missed a chance to pit under the VSC before the pits were closed.

He eventually came in when the race went green, dropping to 12th, but managed to make it back up to 10th behind Magnussen – who is also being looked at for a possible yellow flag infringement.

Alonso – who spent the first part of the race in an absolute ferocious battle with team-mate Esteban Ocon that Alpine eventually asked them to stop – was on course for sixth before his mechanical problem.

Ocon inherited the place, only holding off Lando Norris’s McLaren by 0.107s.

Pierre Gasly was eighth ahead of Magnussen and Hamilton.

Valtteri Bottas had been firmly on course for points for Alfa Romeo before pitting with a late mechanical problem.

Only 18 cars took part in the race. Haas elected not to run Mick Schumacher following his enormous qualifying crash, and Yuki Tsunoda – who had suffered a fuel issue right at the start of qualifying – didn’t make the race either, parking his AlphaTauri on a reconaissance lap to the grid and reporting an engine problem.

Race Results