At the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Sergio Perez experienced first-hand how quickly the mood in Formula 1 can change. The Mexican had secured the first pole position of his career with a magic lap in qualifying and after keeping the lead at the start, it looked as if the number two at Red Bull could once again land a win. But the veteran will probably not remember his 215th race particularly well.
In the first 14 laps, Sergio Perez kept his pursuers at a distance of between one and a half and two seconds. But then Charles Leclerc suddenly accelerated. The F1-75 car of the Monegasque driver came within a second, the Ferrari pitwall ordered the pit stop and sent the mechanics out of the garage. But it was just a tactic to lure Red Bull out.
The move went better than Charles Leclerc could have wished for, as Sergio Perez was brought in directly to ward off a possible undercut. Shortly thereafter, Nicholas Latifi crashed into the wall at the final corner. With time-saving pit stops in the following safety car phase, not only Charles Leclerc was able to pass Sergio Perez, but also Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz: “We knew beforehand that this danger existed,” complained the Mexican driver frustrated after the race. “Unfortunately, Latifi threw his car into the wall at the wrong time. That’s just racing.”
After the safety car phase, Charles Leclerc dictated the pace for a long time. Max Verstappen was asked to save tires and energy for the final phase of the 2022 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Then, on laps 38 and 39, race control suddenly had to introduce a virtual safety car phase because Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo were just a few meters apart with technical problems in the pit entrance.
“In situations like this, the balance of power can always shift. It depends on who gets the cooled tires back into the working window faster. I felt right at home and was able to attack,” Max Verstappen reported later. On lap 42, the world champion caught up in the last sector. Charles Leclerc voluntarily let the Red Bull pass before the DRS line and then counterattacked with the open wing on the home straight.
A lap later, the Red Bull made a second attempt. This time Max Verstappen had learned and braked before the DRS dash, but Charles Leclerc also went into the irons until the tires on both cars smoked. The Monegasque driver accelerated earlier after the attempt to slow down and was able to once again shake off his pursuer on the home straight.
In the third attack on lap 46, Max Verstappen then grabbed his bag of tricks. He dropped back in the fast snaking zone after Turn 13 to lull the opposition to safety. But thanks to DRS, the Dutchman caught up so quickly in the final corners that the Ferrari driver was unable to give up his place in time. So he was not able to react on the home straight.
Because Red Bull had the better top speed, Charles Leclerc was unable to counter in the end. Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto admitted that the setup wasn’t the best choice: “Red Bull was also running with more downforce at the beginning of the weekend, but then changed it for Saturday. We stayed with our downforce level but unfortunately the tyre wear was not an issue in this race.” – the Ferrari boss admitted.
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