Max Verstappen continued his flying start to the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix with a second consecutive race victory as team-mate Sergio Perez was again runner-up to secure Red Bull Racing back-to-back 1–2 finishes in the perfect start to their campaign. (More Motorsport News)
Starting from pole for the first time at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Verstappen was in complete control of the race from the start, despite an early Safety Car deployment on Lap 7 that caused a flurry of unscheduled pit stops. The Dutchman dominated and cruised home to his second victory of 2024 by as sizeable 13.643s over Pérez.
The Mexican driver started the race from third and made his way past Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on Lap 4 to comfortably hold the position to the finis, even after receiving a five-second penalty for an unsafe pit release.
Further down the field, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team’s Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo battled hard in th middle of the pack, but finished outside the points in 14th and 16th places respectively.
“A fantastic weekend for the whole team and also for myself. I felt really good with the car,” Verstappen said.
The Dutch driver won easily ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez by 8.6 seconds on the road, 13.6 once a time penalty for Perez was factored in. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who came in third said, “It was a bit of a boring race because Red Bull were a bit too quick and behind we had a bit of a gap, but we took the maximum points we could today.”
Saturday’s race was the 100th podium finish of Verstappen’s career and his 56th win, a signal of just how dominant his recent title-winning seasons with Red Bull have been.
Verstappen’s second win of the season followed speculation over his future at Red Bull.
Verstappen had suggested Friday that he might reconsider his relationship with the team if his mentor Helmut Marko were to leave Red Bull, but Marko told German broadcaster Sky Sport on Saturday that he was staying.
“I always said that, what is most important is that we work together as a team and that everyone keeps the peace,” Verstappen said after the race.
“And that’s what we, I think, we all agree on within the team. So hopefully from now onwards that is also fully the case and everyone is trying to focus in the same direction. And I think the positive out of all this is that it didn’t hurt our performances, so it’s a very strong team.”
(With AP input)
