Nothing seems to be disturbing the single-seaters of the Austrian team, not even the transmission problem suffered by the reigning double world champion Max Verstappen during the second part of qualifying (Q2) on Saturday and which had earned him a very long start. from the first line. On the fast street circuit of Jeddah, the Dutchman overtook his competitors one after the other and took advantage of the intervention of the safety car between the 18th and 20th laps after the retirement of the Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) for to get closer to the Top 3. Halfway through the race, he grabbed second place by easily overtaking Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin). But Perez had already widened the gap in front. Still the fastest on Sunday, as after the first round in Bahrain, Perez and Verstappen, who in extremis snatched the fastest lap in the race from his teammate, which allows him to keep the lead in the world championship by only one point, have still sickened their rivals. They have confirmed that it will be very difficult to fight with them this season, whether for the drivers’ world title, or even the constructors’ title where Red Bull already has a 46-point lead over Mercedes. We therefore seem to be heading towards a mano a mano between the two drivers, who will be able to attack each other, while the other teams will often fight to pick up the crumbs left by Red Bull. “If so, it will be very simple.” We are allowed to compete, so the best will be in front,” said Verstappen. “It would be good news for the team, because it would mean that we are far ahead of our competitors,” added his Mexican teammate.

The race was also marked by the imbroglio surrounding the last-minute penalty imposed on Alonso. The Spaniard, initially third, as in Bahrain, suffered a ten-second penalty which pushed him back to fourth place and deprived of the 100th podium of his career. The 41-year-old double world champion, who started the race with a bang, overtaking Perez at the first corner, was quickly penalized five seconds for poor positioning on the starting grid. He then took advantage of the intervention of the safety car to return to the pits and take this penalty, but a jack had hit his car during those five seconds, causing a new penalty of ten seconds made official after the official ceremony. But Aston Martin appealed this penalty and finally won its case by proving that several teams had not been penalized in similar cases in the past, forcing the FIA ??to review its decision.

The Briton George Russell, who had won an unexpected podium for Mercedes, will finally have to settle for fourth place. The German team will still have had a good race on Sunday with fifth place for Lewis Hamilton. “We took a step in the right direction, we maximized the performance of the car. We couldn’t do better than fourth,” Russell rejoiced at a press conference, before adding, fair play: “It’s very hard what happened to Fernando. I think some penalties were too severe. Ferrari again had a mixed race as Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who started in fourth position, finished only sixth, ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc. The disappointment is less for the Monegasque, whose season promises to be more complicated than expected, but who started from twelfth place due to a penalty imposed after the replacement of an electronic component during the Bahrain Grand Prix, during which he had to give up. “Overall, we cannot be satisfied with our results. We didn’t have the expected speed, especially on hard tyres. There was a big gap between our level in qualifying and in the race,” lamented Scuderia boss Fred Vasseur. On the French side, the two Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly are in the points, with eighth and ninth places.

Formula 1 World Championship standings after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Round 2 of the season, Sunday in Jeddah:

Driver Rating:

1. Max Verstappen (NED) 44 pts

2. Sergio Perez (MEX) 43

3. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 30

4. Carlos Sainz Jr. (ESP) 20

5. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 20

6. George Russell (GBR) 18

7. Lance Stroll (CAN) 8

8. Charles Leclerc (MON) 6

9. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) 4

10. Esteban Ocon (FRA) 4

11. Pierre Gasly (FRA) 4

12. Kevin Magnussen (DEN) 1

13. Alexander Albon (THA) 1

14.Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) 0

15. Nico Hülkenberg (GER) 0

16. Logan Sargeant (USA) 0

17. Zhou Guanyu (CHN) 0

18. Nyck de Vries (NED) 0

19. Oscar Piastri (AUS) 0

20. Lando Norris (GBR) 0

Manufacturer Ranking:

1. Red Bull 87 pts

2. Aston Martin-Mercedes 38

3. Mercedes 38

4. Ferrari 26

5. Alpine-Renault 8

6. Alfa Romeo 4

7. Haas-Ferrari 1

8. Williams-Mercedes 1

9. AlphaTauri – Red Bull 0

10. McLaren-Mercedes 0