Sergio Perez wins ahead of Max Verstappen

Dhe Formula 1 in the stranglehold of the world champions: catching up Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team already showed their almost brutal superiority in the second race of the season and celebrated a sovereign double success at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Verstappen had to cede victory to his teammate Sergio Pérez, but he himself raced from 15th on the grid to second with almost no effort.

The man of the day was the Dutchman, who continues to lead the World Championship standings: he also secured the fastest lap of the race and is now ahead with precisely this extra point – at the season opener in Bahrain, the duo had crossed the finish line in reverse order. And like it was in Bahrain Fernando Alonso the best supporting actor, the Spaniard drove again to third place in the again fast Aston Martin.

But what remains of this race is the (early) impression that Red Bull will be unbeatable this year. The superior car Verstappen had already allowed something similar last season: In Spa he started from 14th place and won the race.

Mercedes and Ferrari are no challengers so far, they have enough to do with the new strength of Aston Martin, Sebastian Vettel’s former racing team. Mercedes caught up George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and fifth, followed by Ferrari with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. The German Nico Hülkenberg also missed the points in the second race of the season, in the weak Haas he finished 12th.

In qualifying, everyone was already expecting a commanding pole position for Verstappen, but then a drive shaft went on strike, “We’ve never had this kind of damage before,” said Red Bull. For the race, there were two main questions: Is the impressive pace enough? of the RB19 for a win from 15th on the grid? And does the world champion team have to fear further defects?

Red Bull didn’t want to take any risks in this matter and replaced the rear wheel suspension, including both drive shafts, before the race. And the race to catch up was firmly planned. “We have a top speed advantage and we have Max,” said motorsport consultant Helmut Marko at Sky, “the podium should definitely be there.”

The beginning was still a bit difficult, but the more the field spread, the easier it was for Verstappen to get past the competitors – but after eight of the 50 laps, Verstappen was already in the top 10.

Right at the front, Alonso showed in the first few meters that he has some experience with duels at the top. The Spaniard won the start against Perez and was in the lead for a while, but the setback followed a little later: Alonso had missed his starting box and was clearly too far to the left. The stewards imposed a five-second penalty to serve at the pit stop.

A little later he had to let Perez go again in the faster Red Bull, but held on to second place, Russell in the Mercedes fell behind him by one second. Little changed at the top, but something decisive happened at the back: Verstappen worked his way through the field, had less and less trouble – and then also got involuntary help from Aston-Martin.

Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll rolled out with a defect, the safety car came out and the field closed up. The pilots got new tires, and even before the halfway point in the race, Verstappen was not just fourth – he was right behind the top trio.

On lap 23 he easily passed Russell, then on lap 25 it was Alonso’s turn. Half of the race was left for the Red Bull stable duel, Verstappen went hunting. Both undercut each other with the fastest race laps, but Verstappen came only slightly closer.