Sergio Perez showed amazing driving skills on Sunday and won the race at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which was part of the 2023 Formula One World Championship. His teammate Max Verstappen was even more amazing! He started from 15th place but then finished 2nd, making it a double victory for Red Bull.
Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin finished third in the race, which was his 100th podium appearance of his career. Perez had the pole position at the start, while Alonso also started off near the front of the grid. Alonso got a better initial jump but got handed a five-second penalty after stewards noticed he wasn’t completely lined up on the starting grid. The two cars shuffled positions until Alvarez eventually created some distance from him and kept the lead to the finish line.
Alonso was given a 10-second penalty because one of his mechanics was seen touching the car while Alonso was finishing serving a previous penalty. As a result, Alonos ended up in fourth place but this decision was later reversed, meaning that George Russell from Mercedes-Benz AMG got moved back to third place.
Verstappen slowly moved up from way back in the order, passing other drivers with no issues on the way. Yet, after 37 laps and only Perez left ahead of Verstappen, he heard a strange noise from his car and got worried it might be the same problem he faced during qualification. He still finished second but earned an extra point for having the fastest lap.
At the Saudi race, something unusual happened: only one safety car was used. On lap 18, Lance Stroll from Aston Martin had to stop his car since his team noticed a problem.
After the weekend’s race, Verstappen is the winner of the 2023 Driver’s Championship and has earned 44 points ahead of Perez who got 43 points and Alonso third with 30. In the Constructor’s Championship, Red Bull is in first place with 87 points compared to Aston Martin and Mercedes who have 38 each. The next major race will be in Australia in two weeks time.
Below are the final results of the 2023 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix:
1) Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing
2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing +5.355 seconds
3) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +20.728 seconds
4) George Russell, Mercedes-Benz AMG +25.866 seconds
5) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-Benz AMG +31.065 seconds
6) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari +35.876 seconds
7) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +43.162 seconds
8) Esteban Ocon, Alpine +52.832 seconds
9) Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri +54.747 seconds
10) Kevin Magnussen, Haas +64.826 seconds
11) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri +67.494 seconds
12) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas +70.588 seconds
13) Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo +76.060 seconds
14) Nyck De Vries, AlphaTauri +77.478 seconds
15) Oscar Piastri, McLaren +85.021 seconds
16) Logan Sargeant, Williams +86.293 seconds
17) Lando Norris, McLaren +86.445 seconds
18) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo +1 lap
NC) Alexander Albon, Williams – DNF
NC) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin – DNF