Saudi Arabia became the 34th country to host an F1 race in the colourful history of Formula 1. The brand new street circuit of Jeddah is the second longest circuit on the calendar, being 6,174 km long. The circuit itself is extremely narrow with walls close, and there are many blind corners, where drivers don't actually see what's awaiting them as they turn the wheel. Danger is more present at Jeddah street circuit than at most modern F1 venues.
Due to challenging conditions qualifying turned out an eventful one. The medium compound was the most popular choice in Q2. Even teams, which normally can't afford to opt for the medium rubber, such as Alfa Romeo, came out on this compound this time. The pecking order was excitingly mixed, as Hamilton went fastest for Mercedes and Perez was second for Red Bull. Verstappen was third in the sister Red Bull and Bottas was fourth in the sister Mercedes. Ferrari's Sainz faced drama in the second session. He brushed the wall on his flyer, which caused damage to the right side end plate of his rear wing. Carlos boldly tried to improve his lap time at the wheel of his damaged car at the end of the session, almost losing control of his SF21 again. There was nothing to be done, the Spaniard was inevitably out of the top ten. Interestingly, McLaren's Norris was the only driver in the top ten to have set his fastest lap time on the soft Pirellis. Even Giovinazzi, who was the last driver to have made his way in the top ten, had set his lap time on the medium rubber.
The decisive last session was electrifying and dramatic. Hamilton made a mistake on his first flyer, pushing too hard and ending up wide. Verstappen unleashed the lion and took provisional pole by 0.382s to the reigning world champion. Bottas showed top form as well, jumping second, splitting the two world championship candidates. AlphaTauri's Gasly set an impressive lap time and made it fourth in the standings, just ahead of Red Bull's Perez. However, coming out for his last run, Hamilton was a new man. He set a new benchmark and took the top spot to his name. However, Verstappen was ready to attack. Going through sectors 1 and 2, the Dutchman was outscoring his rival by far. Going into Turn 27, the very final corner of the Jeddah circuit, Max pushed a bit too hard, ending up to the wall. What a dramatic turn in this crucial qualifying! Due to the mistake of his own, Max was left in P3. Out of the limelight of this breathtaking drama, Ferrari's Leclerc maximised the potential of his SF21 and made it P4 on the grid. Perez had to settle for P5, with AlphaTauri's Gasly lining up alongside him. Norris qualified 7th for McLaren and Tsunoda in the sister AlphaTauri made it 8th. Alpine's Ocon and Alfa Romeo's Giovinazzi rounded out the top ten.
The night had fallen in Saudi Arabia, as the lights went out. In terms of the start, everything went surprisingly smoothly. All top three drivers got a competitive start, and the Mercedes duo maintained their double lead ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc. Instead of battling for positions, the pecking order was "calm before the storm". On lap 10 Haas' Schumacher lost control of his car, ending up heavily into the tech-pro wall. Safety car was deployed.
Mercedes made the call of a double pit stop, and both Hamilton and Bottas pitted for a fresh set of hard Pirellis. Perez, too was called to box, but Verstappen decided to stay out, which was a brave call from Red Bull. Max was now leading the race, with Hamilton second and Bottas third. Alpine's Ocon had stayed out as well, and the Frenchman was fourth. McLaren's Ricciardo in P5 had opted for a similar tactical call. However, only a couple of laps later the red flags flied, as the tech-pro wall had got so severe damage, that the element needed to be changed. The cars were to return to the pit lane.
Red flag meant a free pit stop for Verstappen and the other drivers, who hadn't pitted under safety car. This made Hamilton very frustrated on the team radio. After a 20-minute suspension a standing restart was to take place. Verstappen had a fresh set of hard Pirellis on his RB16B, similarly to the Mercedes duo. Behind the top five, Ferrari's Leclerc was 6th, Gasly 7th and Perez 8th. Sainz in the sister Ferrari had made an outstanding job by making his way from P15 up to P9.
What a thrilling restart it was! Hamilton took a flying start from P2 and stormed alongside Verstappen into Turn 1. Verstappen ended up cutting the corner, rejoining the track ahead of Hamilton, forcing the Briton to avoid contact. Alpine's Ocon was the driver to benefit from this, and he jumped third. Bottas' restart left a lot to hope for, and the Finn dropped down to P5. Further down in the pack Ferrari's Leclerc hit Perez's Red Bull, which caused the Mexican to spin. Charles was able to continue, but Perez was bittersweetly out of the race. Meanwhile, Mazepin in his Haas crashed into the rear of Russell's Williams, taking both drivers out of the race. Red flags flied again!
The radio communication between Mercedes, Red Bull and FIA run heated, as Max had cut the corner without even trying to make it. Cutting the corner had enabled Max to take the lead. The race control offered Red Bull a chance of revised starting grid. Verstappen was to be dropped down to P3 behind Hamilton. This meant, that in terms of the second restart, Ocon was to start on pole!
Once again the red flag offered the teams a chance for a free pit stop. Verstappen lined up on the grid on fresh medium Pirellis, whilst his Mercedes rivals opted for the hard compound. Verstappen had learnt from his failed first restart. This time the Dutchman stormed into the lead, while Hamilton and Ocon had slight contact. Only a lap later Hamilton managed to overtake Ocon, and after that he had one target only: Max Verstappen. On lap 21 the reigning world champion had already made it within striking distance from the Red Bull ace. AlphaTauri's Tsunoda spun, destroying his front wing. Virtual safety car interrupted the world championship candidates' fierce battle for a moment.
Saudi Arabian GP was such a fractured race. The second virtual safety car was deployed on lap 29, as the ex teammates Kimi and Vettel had collided with each other, which had brought a lot of debris on the track. The race was on for a few laps, until virtual safety car was deployed again, as there was new debris on the track.
On lap 37 Hamilton was right at the very tail of Verstappen. Lewis made his move, but Max pushed him off track. The battle was getting serious! Only a lap later Max had been told on the radio to let Lewis pass him to avoid a penalty, but Hamilton himself wasn't aware of this fact. Max slowed down on the straight, but Hamilton was confused, and ended up hitting the right end plate of his front wing into the rear of Max's Red Bull! It was a truly bizarre episode.
Amazingly, the damaged front wing didn't seem to affect Hamilton's pace. With seven laps to go, Max was given a 5-second time penalty, which was the decisive turn in terms of the victory. No way Max could have pulled over a 5-second gap to Hamilton, who seemed to be quicker on the hard tyres. Hamilton took the lead and immediately built a gap to Verstappen. Bottas had made his way past Ricciardo and was now chasing down Ocon in P3. On the closing laps the Finn was right at Ocon's tail.
Hamilton crossed the finish line, earning 25 points for the win and the extra point for the fastest lap time. Disappointed Verstappen finished the runner-up with 18 points. Bottas had a dream end to his race, as he managed to overtake Ocon only seconds before the chequered flag, claiming P3. Ocon was left in bitter P4, with Ricciardo 5th and Gasly 6th. The Scuderia duo of Leclerc and Sainz finished 7th and 8th respectively.
Both Verstappen and Hamilton now have 369.5 points with only one more round to go! The situation couldn't be any more hair-raising. Mercedes instead took an upper hand on Red Bull in the constructors' standings, as Perez faced a disappointing DNF. Mercedes have a 28-point lead to Red Bull ahead of the season finale.
Which one of the championship fighting warriors will take the title? We'll find out the answer this week already!
With passion for racing red,
Iina Huhmarniemi
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