Who will be the first to cross the line in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2023?
For the third time, Formula 1 races in the always undisputed Saudi Arabia. The oil state is a sizable investor in the sport through Aramco. Many do not like that F1 is letting the country take the spotlight. But that will still apply in 2023 money talks.
For the fan who just loves the sport, the Jeddah Corniche circuit is not bad. Overtaking is not very easy, but it is possible. In addition, you really have to on some parts of the track cojones have to go hard. The walls come very close very quickly.
Yesterday in qualifying, Red Bull was dominant as expected. However, it was not Verstappen who took pole, but Perez. The Mexican did that last year too, but this year he was helped by bad luck for Max. A drive shaft broke at the Dutchman. Because Leclerc takes a grid penalty, Alonso is therefore in the front row. Last year he did the same in Canada with the Alpine at that time. We may see more of it this year. The Aston turned out to be quite fast again.
With Charles and Max somewhere in the middle of the field and a lot of evenly matched men in front, it could be a nice race. Or does Perez just easily pull away from the front with the all-powerful Red Bull? We will see!
Start
Alonso has a better start than Perez and goes to P1! That is good for the race, because the Mexican cannot immediately escape and drive away. Russell closes in with Sainz behind, but the Spaniard is brilliantly overtaken by Lance Stroll. Hamilton cannot perform miracles and closes behind Ocon.
In midfield, Verstappen does not make a super start as his father sometimes did. We now know this from Max in 2023. MV1 knows that his car is faster than the rest. Although there is a lot to gain in the beginning, there is also a lot to lose if you go for the championship. Better not to risk too much and outwit everyone later with the RB19. De Vries joins behind his teammate and Alexander Albon.
Soon Perez makes an attempt to get back at Alonso, but the Spaniard initially rejects it. Unfortunately, there is bad news for the veteran. Apparently he was not quite neat on the grid. Like Ocon in Bahrain, he will receive a five-second penalty. The FIA has clearly found something new to focus on.
After a few insistences, Perez finally passes the Aston. It is clear that the top speed of the RB19 is simply superior.
Mid Race
Perez falls into his rhythm and then slowly but surely drives away from Alonso. Bigger is the difference between ALO and RUS. George is in third place but cannot keep up with Alonso’s pace in the race. Once again, the Mercedes bites through the tires faster. Leclerc climbs steadily from P12 to P7, while Verstappen also takes an uncharacteristically long advance through the field. Remarkable, since the RB19 seems to have some extra speed compared to the rest.
Stroll kicks first of the top-6 at the end of round 14. His teammate indicates that the tires are still good. But Stroll presumably wants to try the undercut against Russell. Whatever the plan, it’s not going great. Stroll first loses a position to Sainz, who pits a lap later. Then he drops out when the team tells him to park on the track.
With Alonso on P2 you irrevocably think of Singapore 2008 and crashgate. The drivers who have not yet stopped can stop under the resulting safety car. This saves them a lot of time. Alonso is one of those drivers. But the real lucky one is Max Verstappen. The Dutchman had meanwhile moved up to P4 due to pit stops by others. Now he can stop and hold that position. And more importantly: Perez’s carefully built buffer has now completely disappeared. Game on for victory number two so for Max.
Ferrari and Leclerc are sleeping again, as LEC drops a gap to Hamilton behind the SC. Only the Brit went looking for the pit. Ferrari had not properly estimated that, otherwise the Monegasque might have had the seven-time champion.
Rolling reboot
Perez does not have to defend hard against Alonso this time, because he will have to deal with Russell. The Spaniard just manages to leave the Mercedes behind. Verstappen has to defend himself against Sainz. That also works, after which Sainz gets Hamilton around. LH44 is the only one of the top-5 on mediums. The rest is on the hard tyres.
Verstappen now makes quick work of Russell and Alonso and goes to P2. The Dutchman now only has his teammate in front of him. It has a buffer of a few seconds. Alexander Albon has a problem with his brakes and has to stop the race. And speaking of the less sharp end of the field: Nyck de Vries is about six seconds behind Tsunoda. The only problem is that he is fifteenth and Tsunoda is tenth.
Up front it’s Red Bull – Red Bull, then Alonso’s Aston, then the two Mercs, two Fezzas and the two Alpines. The two Hazen and McLarens also drive brotherly behind each other. Only they are competitive brothers everywhere. On the radios people ask/complain for team orders here and there. Leclerc, for example, would like to be led past Sainz.
Finish
Verstappen has been complaining about ‘drive shaft issues‘. That can happen to the best. Perez also has some nerves. The Mexican is concerned about his brake pedal. Everyone probably thought that Max would catch up and overtake Sergio after his luck with the safety car. So far, however, Verstappen is only getting closer to his teammate.
Towards the end of the race, the political game comes into play. Both drivers are told to run a 1:33.0 and take home the double victory. But Perez is not so sure and asks if Max does the same. He does not do that. Max drives a 1:32.6. One lap later both do a 1:32.2. Red Bull then says they are free to race.
In the meantime, the McLarens are also fighting a nice rubber on P16 and P17. The car doesn’t go for a meter, but PIA is an asset. The Australian will often make it difficult for the highly regarded Lando, we predict.
Max asks over the radio what the fastest lap is. The team says it’s “not working on that.” But Max says ‘no, but I do’. Perez currently holds the fastest lap. That would take him to the lead in the World Cup. In Bahrain, Zhou took the fastest race lap – outside of the points. Max certainly takes his teammate seriously after today as a threat to the championship.
It therefore seems that it will go between the two Red Bulls. Alonso is third at twenty-two seconds. And don’t forget we had a safety car somewhere an hour ago. Russell is doing everything he can to stay within five seconds of the Aston. Maybe he will get a punishment. Team red is still five seconds behind Hamilton, who himself concedes five seconds to Russell.
Verstappen still takes the fastest lap and thus retains the World Championship lead. Nevertheless, Perez is the happiest man of the day. He was helped a little (a lot) this weekend by bad luck for Max in qualifying. But still… He can win with this RB19 if things don’t work out for Max. On track, Alonso is third across the line and as such he can go for the podium. But after the “champagne”, the announcement comes that the Spaniard will receive a penalty of ten seconds. This is due to the incorrect payment of the five second penalty he received for not taking his starting position correctly. So Alonso and Aston Martin did an Ocon today. Russell moves up to P3.
Behind the two Alpines, Magnussen takes the last point from Tsunoda. De Vries just climbs up a bit and finishes almost exactly ten seconds behind the Japanese. It’s not bad but certainly not epic what Nyck shows. Anyway, it’s only race two in the Alpha Tauri. Perhaps it was to be expected that Yuki would get off to a better start. The next one is in Australia in two weeks. G’day mate!
This message has been updated to reflect that Alonso has finished fourth instead of third. And because that Russell did not become fourth but third.
Result Formula 1: 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Pos | Driver | pits |
---|---|---|
1 |
Sergio Perez
|
1 |
2 |
Max Verstappen
|
1 |
3 |
Fernando Alonso
|
1 |
4 |
George Russell
|
1 |
5 |
Lewis Hamilton
|
1 |
6 |
Carlos Sainz Jr.
|
1 |
7 |
Charles Leclerc
|
1 |
8 |
Esteban Ocon
|
1 |
9 |
Pierre Gasley
|
1 |
10 |
Kevin Magnussen
|
1 |
11 |
Yuki Tsunoda
|
1 |
12 |
Nico Hulkenberg
|
1 |
13 |
Zhou Guanyu
|
2 |
14 |
Nick deVries
|
1 |
15 |
Oscar Pistri
|
1 |
16 |
Logan Sergeant
|
1 |
17 |
Lando Norris
|
1 |
18 |
Valttery Bottas
|
1 |
DNF |
Lance Stroll
|
1 |
DNF |
Alexander Alban
|
1 |
This article Result Formula 1: Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia 2023 appeared first on Autoblog.nl.
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