Max Verstappen heads Red Bull 1-2 in Saudi Arabia after heavy Lance Stroll crash
Max Verstappen makes it two wins from two at the start of the 2024 F1 season.
Max Verstappen led home a Red Bull 1-2 with another dominant performance at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to continue his perfect start to his F1 title defence.
Unaffected by the ongoing noise and controversy surrounding his Red Bull team, three-time world champion Verstappen was in complete control as he made it two wins from two races at the start of the 2024 season.
The only time Verstappen didn’t lead was after he pitted under an early Safety Car when Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll crashed heavily on Lap 7, and McLaren’s Lando Norris stayed out.
But it took just two laps after the restart for Verstappen to restore his lead with an easy pass on Norris, before the Dutchman checked out on his way to claiming his 56th grand prix victory.
Sergio Perez picked up a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release but was still able to comfortably secure a second consecutive Red Bull 1-2.
Having lost out to Perez in the early stages, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had to settle with the final spot on the podium in a distant third.
Oscar Piastri was the lead McLaren driver in fourth, while Fernando Alonso took a strong fifth place in his Aston Martin, just fending off Mercedes’ George Russell.
But the standout drive of the day undoubtedly went to British teenager Oliver Bearman, who finished a brilliant seventh to score points in his first F1 race as an emergency stand-in for Ferrari regular Carlos Sainz, who was ruled out the weekend with appendicitis.
The 18-year-old, who became the youngest-ever British F1 driver, managed to keep fellow countrymen Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton behind him to cap off an impressive debut in Jeddah.
Behind Norris and Hamilton, Nico Hulkenberg grabbed a valuable first point of the season for his Haas team.
