The only downside, to look for one, is that perhaps the heart of the fan is not ready for another season of emotions until the last lap. The rest are all advantages: Verstappen and Leclerc fought on Jeddah Corniche until the last lap, the Monegasque led more than half the race but he caught him Mad Max, which in the exchange of blows has always been the most fearsome. Red Bull planned an attacking race and set up the RB18 to fly down the straights. That gave the Dutchman the advantage, who besieged the Ferrari until five laps from the end, stuck to his wake, did not lose the DRS and threw the car at him. The first time, Charles handed it back. The second time, they both blocked (to win DRS down the straight) and nothing changed. For the third, studied and workedVerstappen locked up Leclerc and ran away to victory. The Ferrari did not take off, but a yellow flag would prevent it from launching the last offensive.
So in that order they crossed the finish line, the world champion wins again while the World Cup leader extends his lead. Because Carlos Sainz was third, eight seconds from the head: closer and closer, although without the rhythm to fight for victory against two giants in full swing. Pérez started from pole, but misfortune with a safety car let him down.
Clean start and quiet race
The start was clean and so was the race, there were no red flags on the most dangerous circuit on the calendar. Czech did not have to worry about Leclerc, who was more aware of Sainz when the traffic lights went out. The first Ferrari closed in a certain way to the second from the outside, because Carlos had started well. Boxed, Verstappen passed him and fell to fourth place. This is how the peloton advanced towards the first and only tire change.
Leclerc reported by radio that they could try the undercutas if those things were warned, and Red Bull swallowed the bluff: Pérez stopped first, no one else behind him. It was then that Latifi, ironies of fate, crashed his Williams into the wall and forced the appearance of the safety car. Ruined Sunday for the Mexican ‘poleman’ and first position for Leclerc, who was already waiting for Verstappen at the restart. Red Bull then resorted to piracy: Checo illegally passed Sainz during the safety carwhile the man from Madrid returned from the pits, and he did not return the position to him until the race was relaunched. That way, Max didn’t have to look in the rearview mirror at the only time he should have.
The chase from then on was to get up from the seat. Verstappen cut and cut, opened the DRS and pulled the repertoire. It was dangerous when both blocked, because neither wanted to get past the detection line first that allows the rear wing to open on the huge straight. But the competition was pure, summed up by the loser, Leclerc: “It wasn’t enough, but I really enjoyed this race. It was tough, but clean, and every race should be like this.” Is right. Too bad Sainz was a mere spectator of that beautiful fight, despite his eighth podium finish in F1. It will arrive soon, because the pilot offers no doubts and this Ferrari, Seen what has been seen, he is a candidate for everything in 2022.
The Alpine abandons the best Alonso
Behind, Russell was fifth and Ocon sixth. At the beginning, the French starred in a tense duel with Alonso that the Spaniard took. Fernando aspired to that sixth for almost the entire race after facing Magnussen or Bottas on the asphalt and putting on a show, which is what the twenty come out for every Sunday. But his Alpine broke, everything points to the engine, that “engine kill” message on the screen is more scary than embarrassing. Too bad the car was not up to the performance of the two-time Spanish champion. Zero points in a great weekend for him. Norris, Gasly, Magnussen and Hamilton rounded out the top-10. Sir Lewis’s comeback was unspectacular because he delayed the pit stop so much that when he was finally able to do it, in the middle of virtual Safety Car, they closed the ‘pit lane’ to repatriate Ricciardo’s McLaren and Fernando’s A522, both adrift. Lack of reliability, lack of performance, old problems that some do not solve. Fortunately, in front, at least, Formula 1 has leveled up this season.