Sergio Perez is a street circuit master thanks to victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah.
Perez crossed the line 5.3 seconds clear of Verstappen, who spent the final laps charging his battery for a final-tour tilt at the fastest lap which was ultimately successful as he crossed the line with a one minute, 31.906 seconds lap.
Perez had to overcome a setback at the start, in which Fernando Alonso trickled through into the first corner to take the lead and settled into first place.
But immediately, Alonso was pinged for starting from the incorrect grid location, and a swift investigation resulted in the Aston Martin driver taking a five-second penalty for having been too far to the left in his starting box.
Despite his lead over Perez briefly getting over a second, Alonso was chased down by Perez at the end of the third lap and, with DRS, Checo was able to pull to the inside and make a move to regain the lead at the start of lap four.
Alonso stuck with him in DRS range and, although he never made a charge to reclaim the lead, he was able to sit in Perez’s slipstream for a few laps until he was simply unable to keep within a second of the Red Bull.
From there, the Aston Martin driver tailed off and quickly dropped to 1.6 seconds off Checo by the 11th lap, a deficit that doubled two laps later.
But the race was paused on lap 17, as Lance Stroll – who had earlier put a sensational overtake on Carlos Sainz on the opening lap at Turn 13 – crawled to a halt and parked up at Turn 8. This ultimately brought out a safety car, prompting a flurry of pitstops among the front runners as they traded their medium tyres for the hardest compound.
Verstappen was brought on level terms after the safety car restart, having pitted along with the early leading pack, and was initially told to prioritise managing his tyres until DRS was activated on lap 23.
This gave him the tools to dispose of George Russell with DRS into Turn 27, and the defending champion was subsequently able to catch Alonso in a bid to break into the top two.
Next on Verstappen’s agenda was closing down the 5.4 seconds gap to Perez, and was able to chip about a tenth out per lap, getting it to five seconds by lap 30 of the circuit as Perez tried to reduce the damage.
The polesitter managed to restore his buffer to about 5.2 seconds on the following lap, as he and Verstappen continued to battle for fastest laps. Although largely matching each other for time, Verstappen was able to continually chip away at Perez’s lead.
As the gap fell below 4.5 seconds, Verstappen began to get worried as he started to feel the driveshaft making strange noises at high speed, which restored Perez’s gap to 5.2 seconds as Red Bull investigated his complaints.
But sufficiently happy, Red Bull told Verstappen to press on – and in the meantime, Perez reported a long brake pedal as the team tried to close out the race. Once the two were reassured over their issues, Verstappen closed the gap back up to 4.3 seconds as the radio chattered between the Red Bull drivers and engineers began.
Perez attempted to lobby his team into slowing things down as Verstappen continued to push but, once told it was open season, Perez opened the taps and began to flex an advantage over his team-mate having been able to hang in the low one minute, 32 seconds.
With three laps remaining, Perez’s lead grew to six seconds as Verstappen was instead concerned more about the fastest lap, and the lead grew in Perez’s favour to 7.1 seconds ahead of the final lap.
Verstappen then set his one minute, 31.906 seconds to snatch the fastest-lap point from his team-mate, cutting the gap to just over five seconds to ultimately follow his team-mate home as Perez chalked up a first win since Singapore last season.
Alonso completed the top three, having served his five-second penalty during the safety car period ahead of his pitstop to remain ahead of the chasing Mercedes and Ferrari cars.
Russell was told on the radio to keep Alonso within five seconds, just to cover off the threat of any further penalties, but a mighty last lap from the 2005 and 2006 world champion left the Mercedes driver outside of that margin, and the FIA immediately placed him under investigation for serving the penalty incorrectly.
Alonso had initially completed the top three, having served his five-second penalty during the safety car period ahead of his pitstop to remain ahead of the chasing Mercedes and Ferrari cars.
With that, Alonso was hit with a 10-second penalty, moving him down to fourth and promoting Russell into third position.
Lewis Hamilton ensured both Mercedes made the top five, having opted for a contra-strategy in which he started on hards and completed a 32-lap stint on the medium compound.
This ensured he was able to finish ahead of Carlos Sainz, who had earlier used his pitstop to overcut Stroll, having been the object of his sumptuous pass around the outside at Turn 13.
Sainz stayed ahead of Charles Leclerc, who battled through the order after a 10-place penalty left him starting P12, and the Ferrari driver was able to make it up to seventh position.
Esteban Ocon won the battle of the Alpines to finish eighth, with Pierre Gasly finishing ninth to repeat his Bahrain result.
Haas got off the mark for the season as Kevin Magnussen completed the top ten, having battled throughout the second half of the race with Yuki Tsunoda over the final point.
K-Mag put a move on the AlphaTauri driver at the start of lap 46, denying the Italian team the chance to score its first point of 2023.
So a Red Bull 1-2 with Sergio Perez scoring a victory after a super drive and yet Max Verstappen was the most impressive following a driveshaft failure in qualifying. The double champion charged through the field thanks to the amazing race pace in the RB19 and to get the fastest lap and P2 is important for the championship.
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, race results:
1 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:21:14.894
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull +5.355s
3 George Russell Mercedes +25.866s
4 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +30.728s
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +31.065s
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +35.876s
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +43.162s
8 Esteban Ocon Alpine +52.832s
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine +54.747s
10 Kevin Magnussen Haas +64.826s
11 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +67.494
12 Nico Hulkenberg Haas +70.588s
13 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +76.060s
14 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri +77.478s
15 Oscar Piastri McLaren +85.021s
16 Logan Sargeant Williams +86.293s
17 Lando Norris McLaren +86.445s
18 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +1 lap
– Alex Albon Williams DNF
– Lance Stroll Aston Martin DNF
Jeddah race review as reported by Formula1.com.
Sergio Perez converted pole position into victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as team mate Max Verstappen recovered from P15 to make it successive one-two finishes for Red Bull. Fernando Alonso put his Aston Martin on the podium again with a fine drive, but ultimately dropped to P4 after receiving a post-race penalty, promoting Mercedes’ George Russell to third.
Perez overcame an attack from Alonso at the start, a nervy Safety Car period and Verstappen’s charge from the midfield to make up for the potential win he lost at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit a year ago – kick-starting his championship hopes in the process.
Verstappen progressed to P2 in rapid time but ultimately had to accept defeat to Perez, with the reigning world champion managing additional driveshaft concerns late in the race after the same component failed during qualifying.
Alonso took the lead into Turn 1 but a subsequent time penalty for lining up outside his grid box, coupled with the relentless pace of the Red Bulls, meant he had to settle for third place.
However, Alonso’s rear jack mechanic was later judged to have touched the car before his penalty had been served, the Spaniard receiving a further 10-second penalty after the race that dropped him to P4.
Mercedes and Ferrari had no answers for Red Bull’s pace as they distantly followed in two-by-two formation, Russell getting the better of team mate Lewis Hamilton, and Carlos Sainz leading Charles Leclerc home. However, the Silver Arrows at least had something to smile about, with Russell claiming the team’s first podium of the campaign following Alonso’s penalty.
Leclerc was also tasked with a race day recovery after his pre-race grid penalty, but seventh represented a much smaller reward than Verstappen’s second-place finish, and the Monegasque could not contain his frustration over the radio.
Alpine enjoyed a much stronger second round as Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly collected points in P8 and P9 respectively, while Haas’s Kevin Magnussen and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda went wheel-to-wheel over the final point – the Dane coming out on top with a late move.
Nico Hulkenberg took 12th in the sister Haas, as the Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu beat rookie drivers Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri), Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Logan Sargeant (Williams) to P13.
McLaren endured another tough day at the office after early front wing changes for Piastri, who clashed with Gasly at the start, and Lando Norris, who hit the debris, consigned them to evenings towards the back of the pack.
Piastri ultimately crossed the line in P15 after clearing Sargeant on the final lap, something Norris narrowly avoided repeating as he settled for 17th, with Valtteri Bottas the last of the finishers amid apparent technical trouble in his Alfa Romeo.
Alex Albon and Lance Stroll were the two retirements from the race; Albon encountering terminal brake problems aboard his Williams and Stroll being told to stop his Aston Martin in the early stages, taking him out of the front-running battle.
Attention now turns to the third round of the 2023 F1 season in Australia, with Verstappen holding the championship lead over Perez by a point thanks to him clocking the fastest lap of the race in the dying moments.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.perez-fends-off-verstappen-to-win-action-packed-saudi-arabian-gp-as-alonso.329xV14gKVrf1iU6dOkISI.html
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso has lost his podium in Formula 1’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after receiving another 10-second penalty after the race.
Like his former Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon in Bahrain, Alonso picked up a five-second penalty for being out of position at the start, lining up to the left of his third grid slot.
And not unlike Ocon, Alonso was investigated again for not serving his time penalty correctly during his only pitstop.
After a lengthy delay, the FIA stewards concluded one of Alonso’s mechanics was touching the car before the five-second penalty window was up.
Minutes after heading to the podium to pick up what would have been his 100th trophy in F1, Alonso was hit with an additional 10-second penalty, which dropped him to fourth behind Mercedes driver George Russell.
When asked about his first five-second penalty, which was the result of being left of his box by some margin, the Spaniard said he wasn’t sure yet how he made the mistake.
“I need to review obviously; I made a mistake” he explained before his second penalty was confirmed.
“When they told me five seconds penalty, I said okay, I need to drive a little bit faster to make [up] those five seconds. But I need to review.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/alonso-loses-saudi-arabia-f1-podium-with-second-time-penalty/10446069/
Fernando Alonso has taken aim at the FIA and feels “something is really wrong in the system” over his late penalty that cost him a podium in the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Aston Martin driver finished third on track, negating an initial five-second penalty for lining up incorrectly in his grid position at the start.
But, after the podium ceremony, he was given another 10-second penalty for work starting on his car when the first penalty was served in his pitstop, dropping behind George Russell and to fourth in the final results.
It duly denied Alonso his 100th F1 career rostrum, but rather than argue with the decision the Spaniard was frustrated at how slowly the penalty arrived given he pitted on lap 18 of the 50-lap race when the incident occurred.
“I think today is not good for the fans, when you have 35 laps to apply a penalty and to inform about the penalty,” Alonso said.
“You wait for after the podium, there is something really wrong in the system, but it’s the way it is.
“I feel sorry for the fans. But I really enjoyed the podium. I had the trophy, I had pictures, I celebrated with the champagne and now to have 15 points or 12 points it really doesn’t change much for me.
“But it’s a bit sad for the FIA.”
Alonso felt the FIA must speed up its penalty decision rather than overhaul the process, as he felt had he been told about the 10-second penalty during the race he could have pulled out a bigger gap over Russell in a bid to keep third place.
“I think it needs to come back to common sense. We don’t need to invent anything,” Alonso explained.
“The thing is that they told me you have five seconds penalty. So I push a little bit harder. And I open seven seconds and I pay the penalty. In the second stint there was no investigation, no information. No nothing.
“If someone tells me you have 10 seconds I open 11 seconds.”
Alonso did hold his hands up for the initial penalty for being outside his grid box and wants to review the onboard footage to avoid a similar incident.
“I need to re-watch the race. But apparently I was too much on the left,” he said.
“So it was my mistake I need to pay more attention to that is a little bit also strange that in two races, two cars, Esteban and myself. We have similar things.
“So maybe this is cars, or the Halo, whatever it is interacting with the vision of how we position the car. But anyway, that was my mistake.”
Source: Motorsport.com
UPDATE
Fernando Alonso’s 100th career podium finish in Formula 1’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has been reinstated after his Aston Martin squad won a right to review.
The Spaniard finished third behind Red Bull duo Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen at the Jeddah circuit on Sunday.
However, shortly after the chequered flag, the FIA announced that Alonso had been handed a 10-second penalty for having not properly served a five-second penalty he had been given for failing to line up within his grid box earlier in the race.
This dropped Alonso from third down to fourth behind Mercedes driver George Russell.
The penalty was given out after video footage of the incident appeared to show the rear jack briefly touching the back of the car as Alonso waited for mechanics to begin a tyre change.
After the decision, however, Aston Martin representatives visited the stewards to seek a review of the situation because they felt the rules regarding the serving of penalties were not clear.
While the focus may have been on the jack hitting the car, the regulations do not explicitly state that mechanics cannot touch it.
Instead, Article 54.4 c) of F1’s Sporting Regulations states: “While a car is stationary in the pit lane as a result of incurring a penalty in accordance with Articles 54.3a) or 54.3b) above, it may not be worked on until the car has been stationary for the duration of the penalty.”
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack said he believed Aston Martin had followed the rules and did not work on the car until after five seconds had elapsed.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/alonso-gets-saudi-f1-podium-back-after-penalty-ruling-overturned-/10446232/