For Perez, who won the Saudi Arabian GP on Sunday before Verstappen and is only one point behind the Dutchman in the World Championship standings, the difference between him and the two-time champion is currently not that big. “There are small margins between us at the moment,” said the 33-year-old Mexican. “I’m here to fight, that’s the only reason.” Unlike in the past two years, Perez doesn’t have to back down in favor of Verstappen at the moment and therefore senses his chance.
Verstappen also knows this and is preparing for an open exchange of blows with his teammate. “We’re allowed to drive freely, so the best will be in front,” explained the Dutchman. Two weeks after his success in Bahrain, when he beat Perez, the 25-year-old had to settle for second place in Jeddah. However, he had started from position 15 after a defect in the drive shaft in qualifying, Perez from pole.
“A Monster With Two Heads”
Red Bull’s dominance is also reflected in the press reviews. “A monster with two heads”, wrote the French sports newspaper “L’Equipe” in view of the clear superiority. “The Guardian” sees it similarly: “After two races in the new Formula 1 season, the numbers are already adding up to a sign of what is to come. With first and second place on the first round in Bahrain, Red Bull repeated the feat at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.”
However, Verstappen did not want to give up the lead in the classification. Up to the last lap in Saudi Arabia, it looked as if Perez, thanks to the fastest lap of the race, as the world championship leader, would travel to Australia for the next race with one point more. But then Verstappen almost playfully snatched the one decisive additional point from his teammate. “Typical Max: Last lap so Perez can’t counterattack,” commented Red Bull’s motorsport boss Helmut Marko.
Verstappen hits the gas in the finish
The team bosses were powerless. “We couldn’t control that. That was Max,” Marko stated, they couldn’t have forbidden him that. “The drivers pretty much kept to our specifications,” explained the 79-year-old in an ORF interview. Perez, who at least didn’t have to fear for his fifth career win after the second pole of his career, announced: “We’ll have to look at that again, because I definitely got different information and in the end I couldn’t push anymore. “
The next few races will show how the duel on the track will develop when the cars are closer together. It is clear, as the past has also shown, that Red Bull will always prefer Verstappen, who has a record contract, if the worst comes to the worst. “If you’re fighting for the world championship and it looks like it’s only between two cars, then you also have to make sure that these two cars work reliably,” Verstappen said after his problems in qualifying.
Punishment chaos causes resentment
While there was no doubt about Red Bull’s second double victory, the chaos of penalties for third place caused excitement and displeasure. At the award ceremony, Fernando Alonso first celebrated his third place, after which he was relegated to fourth place. After Aston Martin requested a reconsideration of the case, the race stewards reversed their decision once again. However, when the news came that the ten-second penalty had been lifted, it was already night.
“I feel sorry for the fans,” said the Aston Martin driver, explaining that the FIA had given a sad picture. In the future, one should simply use “common sense” again. “I think it’s more of a sad idea from the FIA because it was a disappointment for us,” said the Spaniard at a time when he had to assume that he had finished fourth.
Alonso can not spoil the evening
The penalty transfer against the two-time world champion was pronounced because his pit crew had allegedly started working on the car too early when completing an initial time penalty. The question was whether the jack had touched the rear of the car and that counts as working on the car. The FIA received criticism primarily for when the second penalty was imposed – more than 30 laps after the incident in question.
In the end, Alonso didn’t want to spoil the evening anyway. “For me, the most important thing was that the car was so strong because we were second fastest,” said the Asturian. “We were well ahead of Ferrari and controlled the Mercedes,” he added. This is “very good news”. Red Bull is “maybe a little out of reach at the moment, but we’re right behind”.