What happened at the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix? (2024)

Part of this story

FIA Formula One World ChampionshipFIA Formula One World Championship is back in 2021 and promising to deliver with big action.15 Tour Stops
Max VerstappenThe son of former Formula One driver Jos Verstappen, Max Verstappen is the youngest race-winner in F1 history and a three-time world champion. Netherlands
Sergio PérezSergio ‘Checo’ Pérez is the most successful Mexican driver in the history of Formula One, and he’s achieving yet more success with RedBull Racing.Mexico
Yuki TsunodaJapan's newest F1 hero, Visa Cash App RB driver Yuki Tsunoda has risen like a rocket through the ranks of formula racing.Japan

1. Saudi Arabia in exactly 75 words*

Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez gave Oracle Red Bull Racing its second 1-2 Formula One finish of the season at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with reigning world champion Verstappen earning his 100th career podium finish with his ninth successive victory dating back to last season and second career win at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Charles Leclerc, who qualified second behind Verstappen, completed the podium for Ferrari after being passed by Pérez on Lap 4.

* 2024 is the 75th season of the F1 world championship

2. The Saudi Arabian GP in six pics

3. Race two, another 1-2 for RedBull

Verstappen arrived in Jeddah on the cusp of a special achievement; a win would see the Dutchman set the second-longest winning streak of all-time (nine consecutive victories), which would trail only his 10-race run last season as the longest in the sport’s 75-year history.

Pole position, with a gap of three-tenths of a second to Leclerc, ticked the first box under Saudi night skies on Friday night, and he out-dragged the Ferrari on the short run to the first corner to put himself in the box seat. An earlier-than-planned pit stop on Lap 6 – after Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll crashed out and caused a safety car – saw him have to nurse a set of hard tyres to the end of the 50-lap race. Still, he was untroubled after taking the lead back from McLaren’s Lando Norris (who didn’t pit under the safety car) on Lap 13 to win by 13.643s.

Two underrated aspects of Verstappen’s recent success are his conversion rate – Saturday was the 18th consecutive pole that preceded a race win – and his consistency; Saudi Arabia was his 43rd race finish in a row, a streak 28 races longer than any other driver.

More on Max and Checo

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Pérez, who won in Saudi Arabia last year from pole position, felt he’d squandered a chance for a RedBull 1-2 in qualifying when Leclerc edged him by 0.016s to the front row. Still, the Mexican made amends swiftly on Saturday’s race by leapfrogging the Monegasque driver just four laps in.

Second looked assured from there, but it wasn’t without its challenges; Pérez was released into the pit lane in the way of Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin in the chaos of the Lap 6 safety car stampede to the pit lane and was assessed a five-second time penalty to be applied at the end of the race for an unsafe release.

Pérez pressed on undeterred and had just shy of five seconds in hand over Leclerc even after the penalty was applied, making it two straight podiums to kick-start his season.

4. Wait continues for Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo

The Visa Cash App RB team had a frustrating night in Jeddah, with Yuki Tsunoda (14th) and Daniel Ricciardo (16th) failing to score points after the team went scoreless in Bahrain seven days earlier.

Tsunoda was a standout performer in qualifying, making it through to Q3 and lining up in ninth on the grid, but was frustrated in the race behind Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, who was assessed a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage as he attempted to hold Tsunoda off.

Ricciardo, meanwhile, will enter his home Grand Prix in Australia in a fortnight, still chasing his first points of 2024 after finishing 10 seconds behind his team-mate. A slow pit stop on Lap 6 dropped him to the rear of the field. The 34-year-old made gains and passed Sauber pair Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu late in the race, but a penultimate lap spin at Turn 2 summed up a largely anonymous weekend.

5. The number you need to know

100: Verstappen becomes the seventh driver in F1 history to achieve 100 career podiums; Lewis Hamilton (197), Michael Schumacher (155), Sebastian Vettel (122), Alain Prost (106), Fernando Alonso (106) and Kimi Raikkonen (103) are the others.

6. The word from the paddock

A fantastic weekend for the whole team and also for myself. I feel really good with the car, and it was the same in the race … we had good pace all around

What happened at the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix? (22)

Max Verstappen

7. The stats that matter

Drivers' Championship top 5

Position

Driver

Team

Points

Gap

1

Max Verstappen

Oracle Red Bull Racing

51

-

2

Sergio Pérez

Oracle Red Bull Racing

36

-15

3

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

28

-23

4

George Russell

Mercedes

18

-33

5

Oscar Piastri

McLaren

16

-35

Constructors' Championship top 5

Position

Team

Points

Gap

1

Oracle Red Bull Racing

87

-

2

Ferrari

49

-38

3

McLaren

28

-59

4

Mercedes

26

-61

5

Aston Martin

13

-74

8. Away from the track

Take three F1 drivers and give them a break from bitumen, and you know what happens next... We let Max Verstappen, Sergio Pérez and Daniel Ricciardo loose around a replica of the United States Grand Prix circuit at Oracle Headquarters with remote-controlled cars, with hilarious results.

Without giving too much away, there were jumps and crashes, and some cars even finished the course. Some bent machinery and banter were guaranteed with this trio at the controls.

Who won? Who didn’t? Does it even matter? Watch below and find out…

What happened at the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix? (23)

5 min

Formula 1 Drivers Drive RC Cars

Oracle powers our strategy decisions on the track, but what strategy did the drivers use as they raced around Oracle HQ?

9. Where to next, and what do I need to know?

Round 3 (Australia), March 22-24

Circuit name/location: Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne

Length/laps: 5.278km, 58 laps

Grands Prix held/debut: 26, 1996

Most successful driver: Michael Schumacher (four wins)

Most successful team: Ferrari (nine wins)

2023 race recap: 1st: Max Verstappen (Oracle RedBull Racing), 2nd: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 3rd: Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

10. Inside the wide world of RedBull Motorsports

The 2024 MotoGP season roared into life this weekend with the Qatar Motorcycle Grand Prix, and with 16 of the 22 riders having won in the premier class, quality on two wheels isn’t hard to find. Harder to find? Anyone who had a dry eye after category veteran Johann Zarco finally became one of those victors in 2023, the fast Frenchman annexing the Australian Grand Prix with a dramatic last-lap overtake.

It was a win that was a long time coming – Zarco was in his seventh season and had taken 19 other podiums before belatedly winning on his 120th start – and one that saw smiles from his team and rivals alike as the 33-year-old from Cannes is one of the most intriguing and endearing figures in the pit lane.

Take a trip through a race weekend with Zarco at last year’s season finale in Valencia, where he reflects on his long ride to the top, his 2024 shift to Honda, and that magical day last October at Phillip Island.

Part of this story

FIA Formula One World ChampionshipFIA Formula One World Championship is back in 2021 and promising to deliver with big action.15 Tour Stops
Max VerstappenThe son of former Formula One driver Jos Verstappen, Max Verstappen is the youngest race-winner in F1 history and a three-time world champion. Netherlands
Sergio PérezSergio ‘Checo’ Pérez is the most successful Mexican driver in the history of Formula One, and he’s achieving yet more success with RedBull Racing.Mexico
Yuki TsunodaJapan's newest F1 hero, Visa Cash App RB driver Yuki Tsunoda has risen like a rocket through the ranks of formula racing.Japan
What happened at the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix? (2024)

FAQs

What happened in F1 Saudi Arabia? ›

Max Verstappen stormed to his second win of 2024 in Saudi Arabia as he and team mate Sergio Perez scored another Red Bull one-two. Ferrari stand-in Oliver Bearman also had a starring outing in his debut Grand Prix as he bagged P7 and six points.

What happened to Lance Stroll in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix? ›

Lance Stroll crashed his Aston Martin at Turn 23 on Lap 7 of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, putting him out of the race and triggering a Safety Car to allow the marshals to clear his car from the circuit.

What is the penalty for Perez in Saudi Arabia 2024? ›

Red Bull's Sergio Perez started the season with the most penalty points on the 2024 F1 grid and has added a singular point to his record this year. Perez was awarded one penalty point at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix for an unsafe release in the pitlane, which caused a close call with Fernando Alonso.

What was the penalty for the Jeddah Grand Prix? ›

2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Magnussen handed 10 second penalty for Albon contact. Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon made contact on the Safety Car restart in Jeddah, with the Haas driver later handed a 10 second time penalty for the incident by the race stewards.

Who crashed in Saudi Arabia F1? ›

Lance Stroll's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix came to a premature end as the Aston Martin driver crashed out on Lap 6. The Canadian just caught the inside of the wall into Turn 22, which subsequently broke the suspension on his car.

What happened to Hamilton in Saudi? ›

Lewis Hamilton said he experienced a "difficult day" of practice at the Saudi Arabian GP after finishing only eighth fastest and collecting a warning for impeding Logan Sargeant in a high-speed near-miss that Mercedes were fined for.

What happened to Pierre Gasly in Saudi Arabia? ›

Reflecting on the situation after his early exit, Gasly conceded: “It's definitely not our weekend. We lost the sixth gear on the formation lap, and basically had a gearbox issue on the formation lap which meant we had to retire.

Was there alcohol at the Saudi Grand Prix? ›

Despite the comments and attempts to make Saudi Arabian more inclusive, that was not the case for the Saudi Arabian GP. The champagne was replaced with a pink and sugary water drink for the celebration. Even Max Verstappen made that revelation after his 2021 race podium celebration. He said, “There was no champagne.

Where did Lance Stroll go? ›

Lance Strulovitch (born 29 October 1998), better known as Lance Stroll, is a Canadian and Belgian racing driver competing under the Canadian flag in Formula One. He has driven for Aston Martin since 2021, having previously driven for Williams and Racing Point.

What did Perez get penalty for? ›

Sergio Perez will drop three grid positions for the Australian Grand Prix after receiving a penalty for impeding Nico Hulkenberg during qualifying.

Why did Perez get penalized? ›

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Red Bull driver Sergio Perez has dropped from third to sixth on the Australian Grand Prix grid after being penalised for impeding Nico Hulkenberg during qualifying.

Why did Sergio Perez get penalized? ›

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez received a three-place grid penalty after impeding Nico Hulkenberg's hot lap during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. Sergio Perez has dropped from third to sixth on Sunday's Australian GP grid after being penalised for blocking Haas' Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying.

What is the largest penalty in F1? ›

The most important of these were the team's exclusion from the 2007 Constructors' Championship and a record-breaking fine of $100 million. However, it was estimated that McLaren would pay closer to $31 million. As of 2022, this remains the largest fine in sporting history.

What's the penalty for not putting F1? ›

For drive-through and stop-go penalties, a driver has 2 laps from the time their team hears of the penalty to enter the pits; if the driver does not pit within 2 laps, the driver will be black-flagged.

Why did Yuki get a penalty? ›

Yuki Tsunoda received a five-second penalty for unsafe release before the race, nearly colliding with Lando Norris. After a thorough review, stewards decided against awarding a penalty point, given the incident's timing during the reconnaissance lap.

What happened to Gasly in Saudi Arabia? ›

The Frenchman recorded a first lap DNF in Jeddah after gearbox trouble on his Alpine. Pierre Gasly's retirement from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was down to a loss of gear synchronisation, he has revealed.

What is the drama at Red Bull? ›

First, there's the turmoil at Red Bull despite Verstappen's win by more than 22 seconds over teammate Sergio Perez. Team principal Christian Horner remains in charge a week after the team's parent company dismissed a complaint that alleged misconduct by Horner toward a team employee.

Why is F1 on Saturday in Saudi Arabia? ›

Why is the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on a Saturday? The Islamic holy month of Ramadan starts on Sunday 10 March, when the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia would have usually taken place. To avoid a clash, the race in Jeddah has been brought forward by one day, to Saturday 9 March.

Who was driver of the day F1 Saudi Arabia? ›

Bearman was named driver of the day in the fans' vote and team-mate Leclerc paid tribute to him after the race. "He completely deserves it," Leclerc said. "He has done an incredible job. In P3 he was straight on the pace, in qualifying he did an incredible job and missed Q3 only by a little.

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