Perez Dominates 2023 Saudi Arabian GP – Sport Grill

Sergio Perez dominated 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in a Red Bull one-two finish ahead of Max Verstappen.

Perez lost the lead at the start to Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso but passed the Spaniard at start of Lap 4 and cruised to victory unchallenged for his fifth win in F1.

Max Verstappen meanwhile recovered from 15th on the grid to finish second ahead of Alonso as Mercedes’ George Russell and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top five.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished sixth and seventh respectively ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, whilst Haas’ Kevin Magnussen rounded out the top.

Alonso however was handed a ten-second time penalty post-race after Aston Martin mechanics were adjudged to have touched his car, during his five-second time penalty served in his pit stop after he was out-of-position on the grid.

Aston Martin though successfully appealed and Alonso was reinstated to third position in the official classfication, which confirmed his 100th podium in F1.

In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen now leads Perez by just one point whilst Alonso sit third ahead of Sainz and Hamilton.

At lights out, Perez made a clean start from pole position but Alonso – out of position within his grid box – got the jump to lead into the opening corner as Russell held third, whilst Lance Stroll swept round the outside of Sainz through Turn 13.

Leclerc meanwhile started on softs and climbed from 12th to ninth whilst Verstappen could only recover two positions to 13th from 15th on the grid –  having suffered a driveshaft failure in Q2 during Qualifying.

Up front, Alonso was hit with a five-second time penalty but still led Perez until the Mexican claimed the lead with a wild lunge up the inside into Turn 1 on Lap 4.

Verstappen meanwhile made his way up to tenth by lap eight before Magnussen triggered a wave of pit stops, during which Sainz and Leclerc both jumped Stroll.

Stroll though became the first retirement of the race as he pulled off the track with an energy related issue on Lap 17, which caused a Safety Car due to the GPS showing his car as still on track.

Perez, Alonso and Russell consequently pitted under the Safety Car and retained position ahead of Verstappen – who was fourth at time of Safety Car deployment – as Sainz split the Dutchman and Hamilton.

Hamilton though had started on the hard tyres unlike majority who started on mediums and switched to the latter compound, as everyone else switched in the opposite direction to the more durable hard tyres.

That gamble saw Hamilton jump Sainz for fifth on Lap 22 a lap after a clean restart from everyone, whilst Verstappen passed Russell for third a lap later then managed to pass Alonso for second on Lap 25 with both overtakes completed at Turn 1.

Perez though was able to comfortably fend off Verstappen at a gap of around five seconds although his teammate reported another driveshaft issue which he described as feeling “rough” on Lap 37.

Alonso meanwhile cruised home in third ahead of Russell who fought off Hamilton as Sainz, Leclerc, Ocon and Gasly rounded out the top nine, whilst Magnussen snatched the final point in tenth from AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda on Lap 46.

Verstappen meanwhile set the fastest lap of 1m 31.906 on the final lap to ensure he retained his lead ahead of Perez by just one point, with Alonso sat third after a pair of third-placed finishes.

Post-race, Alonso was handed a ten-second time penalty after mechanics were found to have touched his car during his pit stop on Lap 19, as he served his five-second time penalty in which no mechanics should touch any part of the car and dropped to fourth in the classification.

Aston Martin however decided to appeal the penalty, which saw Alonso’s penalty reversed and the Spaniard reinstated to third place plus his 100th podium in F1.

F1 now heads Down Under to Melbourne, Australia for the Australian GP between 31 March – 2 April.