Sergio Perez edged past his home team mate Max Verstappen to seal Red Bull’s one-two in Jeddah; Verstappen recovered from 15th on the grid to push his teammate to the finish; Fernando Alonso climbs to second consecutive podium finish for Aston Martin ahead of George Russell and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton
Sergio Pérez impressively held off teammate Max Verstappen’s charge from 15th on the grid to seal a one-two finish for Red Bull at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
A technical glitch in qualifying had left Verstappen with little hope of victory, but he looked with a big chance when a safety car helped him pass to second and six seconds behind his team-mate before the race reached its half point. . stage.
However, Perez, who had taken just three wins in his previous two seasons as the Dutchman’s teammate, produced a hugely composed display to maintain his lead as Red Bull pulled off a one-two victory from Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso for the second time. in so many races this season.
Alonso led into the first corner to beat polesitter Perez but was soon overtaken by a Red Bull car he simply did not have the pace to compete with, while the Spaniard was also forced to serve a five. second penalty during his pit stop for having lined up in the wrong starting position on the grid.
George Russell finished fourth, one place ahead of Lewis Hamilton, after ignoring instructions to let his teammate pass him after the safety car left the seven-time world champion on a more favorable tire and with a chance theoretically better to pursue it. alonso
However, Russell seemed to justify his decision by opening the gap to Hamilton as the Mercedes came comfortably home to Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, who was left angry at his team-mate feeling he had not received the correct instructions. . under the safety car.
Esteban Ocon finished eighth ahead of teammate Pierre Gasly to round out a good afternoon for Alpine, while Kevin Magnussen produced a late pass to snatch the final point from AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
More to follow…
Saudi Arabian GP race result
1) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
3) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
4) George Russell, Mercedes
5) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
6) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
7) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
8) Esteban Ocon, Alpine
9) Pierre Gasly, Alpine
10) Kevin Magnussen, Haas
