Max Verstappen Cruises To Victory At Saudi Arabian GP To Extend Dominant Start To F1 Title Defense – News18

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia: Max Verstappen stayed firmly heading in the right direction for one more season of dominance in Formula 1 on Saturday by successful the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Even after simply two races, and regardless of turmoil at Red Bull, Verstappen appears in close to-complete management on the monitor as he goals for a fourth consecutive title this 12 months.

“A fantastic weekend for the whole team and also for myself. I felt really good with the car,” Verstappen mentioned.

The Dutch driver received simply forward of his teammate Sergio Perez. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third.

“It was a bit of a boring race because Red Bull were a bit too quick and behind we had a bit of a gap, but we took the maximum points we could today,” Leclerc mentioned.

Verstappen began on pole and held off Leclerc on the first nook, as he did final week on the season-opener in Bahrain which he received, earlier than rapidly constructing his lead.

The solely interruption got here when Lance Stroll’s crash introduced out the protection automotive. Verstappen got here into the pits for a tire change and after the restart simply handed Lando Norris — who hadn’t stopped — to retake the lead.

Perez had a 5-second penalty as a result of Red Bull launched him from a pit cease into the trail of one other automotive, however that didn’t matter since he completed far forward of Leclerc.

Eighteen-year-previous British driver Oliver Bearman was seventh for Ferrari in his first F1 race, at some point after being referred to as up as an emergency substitute for Carlos Sainz Jr., who wanted an operation to deal with appendicitis.

Oscar Piastri took fourth for McLaren, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso fifth and George Russell sixth for Mercedes.

Behind Bearman in seventh, McLaren’s Lando Norris held off Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in a battle for eighth place. Nico Hulkenberg was tenth for Haas’ first level in F1 because the Singapore Grand Prix in September.

Verstappen’s second win of the season adopted hypothesis over his future at Red Bull.

Verstappen had instructed Friday that he would possibly rethink his relationship with the crew if his mentor Helmut Marko have been to go away Red Bull, however Marko advised German broadcaster Sky Sport on Saturday that he was staying.

The crew’s mother or father firm final week dismissed a grievance of alleged misconduct by Red Bull crew principal Horner towards a crew worker.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)