Red Bull had the speed on the straight, Ferrari had the speed on the medium corners, as could be seen from Friday’s practice session and the qualifying session on Saturday. There are plenty of both on this Jeddah street track, although it seemed that perhaps Red Bull would have the edge given the long straights.
With Yuki Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher did not make the start. The Japanese youngster got out of his AlphaTauri car after not evening making it one lap around this track out of the pits, which was a big blow for AlphaTauri. Haas announced last night that they will only run one car today with Kevin Magnussen and that Mick Schumacher will not take part. The Ferrari junior crashed at Turn 12 during Q2 and was airlifted to hospital for “precautionary checks”. Upon his release from hospital, he took to social media to confirm that he is “ok” and to thank everyone for their support.
It was not the ideal start for Scuderia Ferrari, as Max Verstappen passed Carlos Sainz around the outside to move up to P3, while Charles Leclerc kept his second place behind Sergio Perez. Verstappen got a better getaway and although Carlos was able to hold him off into the first corner, the world champion then struck to secure what could turn out to be a key pass.
After 13 laps Charles Leclerc was told by Ferrari that he remains on plan A, as his tyres were waring less than those on the Red Bulls he is between in P2, while Carlos Sainz was told that he was still on Plan B. Two laps later it looked like Ferrari were going to pit – but Red Bull saw that and pulled the trigger themselves, by calling Sergio Perez in. The opportunity for the Maranello team came one lap later: Nicholas Latifi crashed – not for the first time this weekend – and we had a Virtual Safety Car. Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen took advantage of the Safety Car and ended up ahead of Sergio Perez who stopped earlier. Carlos Sainz also pitted for fresh hard tyres, but unfortunately could not come out ahead of the Mexican driver.
A strong effort from Charles Leclerc as he holds the lead into Turn 1 after the restart, while Sergio Perez let Carlos Sainz through to avoid a penalty, as the Ferrari driver was ahead at the safety car line when exiting the pits. The Moneagsque driver managed to avoid letting Max Verstappen get a toe into the first corner by weaving around, and consequently was far enough clear to stop his rival from trying an overtake.
With 15 laps to go, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso had a power was forced to retire from the race, while Daniel Ricciardo also had an issue stopped on track. There was a real spate of technical issues all of a sudden, as Valtteri Bottas also drove his Alfa Romeo back to the pits and was out of the race.
Max Verstappen closed right up on Charles Leclerc following the restart and just like last week in Bahrain the Dutchman passed the Ferrari driver into the final corner, but Charles got him back with DRS on the home straight. The following lap both cars locked up into the final corner but it was the Moneagsque driver was managed to stay ahead as he got better traction. Sadly, with four laps to go Verstappen followed Charles round the final corner and got his passed up the home straight.
P2 and P3 for Scuderia Ferrari at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, but still a great result at the end of another thrilling Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz makes sure there are two Ferrari cars on the podium once more with Sergio Perez fourth.
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