Final – Vince Perez, Verstappen is second but snatches the fastest lap from his teammate and therefore he is the world championship leader
Perez with the point of the fastest lap and the victory would become world leader
2 laps to the finish: Perez has 6″5 on Verstappen who gave up
Verstappen has raised his pace and is 5″9 behind Perez
Lap 46 – Furious duel for tenth place, Magnussen manages to overtake Tsunoda
Lap 43 – 7 laps to the finish, Perez still has 4″3 on Verstappen, 21″3 Alonso, 26″ Russell, 29″4 Hamilton, 34″ Sainz, 34″4 Leclerc, 46″7 Ocon, 49″ Gasly, 56″ Tsunoda, 57″3 Magnussen then further away Hulkenberg Zhou DeVries Sargeant Norris Piastri Bottas
Lap 42 – DeVries overtakes Sargeant for 14th place
The situation: Perez Verstappen Alonso Russell Hamilton Sainz Leclerc Ocon Gasly Tsunoda. Then Magnussen Hulkenberg Zhou Sargeant DeVries Norris Piastri Bottas
Duel between Tsunoda and Magnussen for tenth place, which is the last point available
Perez has brake problems, long pedal
Lap 40 – Perez loses 7 tenths in one lap compared to Verstappen who gets back to 4″3
Verstappen communicates again that he has a problem
Lap 38 – Perez returns to + 5″ on Verstappen who reports that he feels some boredom in the rear
Third pit stop for Bottas who must have problems with his Sauber and is on soft tyres
Lap 35 – Perez and Verstappen are separated by 4″6, Alonso is quiet third with a 3″ lead over Russell who in turn has 2″8 over Hamilton. Sainz is 3″4 from Hamilton, Leclerc follows him at 2 “2
Straight from Leclerc at turn 23, great battle between Hulkenberg Sargeant and Zhou for 12th place
Lap 31 – 20 laps from the checkered flag, Perez has an advantage of 4″9 over Verstappen. Alonso is 13″ from the leader and has 2″ over Russell and 4″ over Hamilton. Sainz is 3″4 from Hamilton and has 2″2 on Leclerc
Albon si ritira ai box
Lap 28 – Hamilton is behind Russell and seems faster with the medium tires and his partner the hard ones
Perez responds to Verstappen’s times and keeps him at 5″3
Albon has brake problems and is overtaken in the mid-pack
Lap 26 – Perez has a 5″4 lead over Perez who is half a second faster than the Mexican in this lap. Alonso holds third position on the Mercedes of Russell and Hamilton, then the two Ferraris with Sainz and Leclerc
But after a few corners, Verstappen easily passes the Aston Martin and sets off in pursuit of Perez
Lap 25 – Verstappen attacks Alonso, but the Spaniard resists
Lap 24 – Verstappen gets rid of Russell and attacks Alonso
Lap 23 – Verstappen attacks Russell for third place
Great maneuver by Hamilton who overtakes Sainz and goes fifth
It starts again, Perez immediately stretches on Alonso who rejected an attack by Russell
The SC has reassembled the group and everything is back in the game now. Alonso no longer has the 5″ penalty, Verstappen sees the possibility of going to take the win. Everything is open
In the pits Zhou and Norris to mount the medium tyres
The situation: Perez Alonso Russell Verstappen Sainz Hamilton Leclerc Tsunoda Ocon Gasly Magnussen Albon Hulkenberg DeVries Sargeant Piastri Zhou Norris Bottas
There is always the safety car on the track
Hamilton has fitted the medium tires like Sargeant and Bottas, all the others are on the hard ones
Pit-stop anche per Verstappen Hamilton Sargeant
Lap 19 – Pit stop for Perez Alonso Russell. Alonso serves the 5″ penalty
The presence of the safety car appears useless considering that Stroll had slipped into the well-protected escape route
Ai box Tsunoda Albon DeVries e Bottas
Enter the safety-car
Lap 18 – Stroll retires along the track due to a technical problem
Lap 17 – Leclerc in the pits for the pit stop together with Ocon, hard tires for both
Lap 16 – Sainz at the pit stop, put on hard tires and rejoined in front of Stroll
Lap 15 – Hard tires for Gasly at the pit stop
The situation on lap 14: Perez Alonso Russell Sainz Leclerc Verstappen Ocon Hamilton Gasly Tsunoda in the top 10. Then Stroll Albon DeVries Sargeant Magnussen Zhou Hulkenberg Piastri Bottas Norris
Lap 14 – Pit stop for Stroll who rides with hard tyres
Lap 13 – Verstappen caught Ocon and passed him easily
Perez is now 3″ ahead of Alonso, 10″2 Russell, 13″ Stroll, 14″ Sainz
Leclerc reaches Ocon’s Alpine and passes it
Lap 12 – Pit stop for Zhou and Hulkenberg who mount hard tyres
Lap 11 – Verstappen passes Hamilton and is eighth
Alonso let Perez go and the gap is 2″
Pit stop for Bottas, who like Magnussen starts again with the hard ones
Lap 10 – Verstappen sees Hamilton in front of him who is in trouble with the hard tyres
Lap 9 – Pit stop for Magnussen, Verstappen overtakes Gasly
Leclerc with the soft tires manages to easily overtake Hamilton who has hard tires
Leclerc tries to catch Hamilton in front of him
Verstappen overtook Zhou and took tenth position
Lap 6 – Perez Alonso Russell Stroll Sainz Ocon Hamilton Gasly Leclerc Zhou. Following Verstappen Hulkenberg Magnussen Tsunoda Bottas Albon Sargeant De Vries Piastri Norris who stopped in the pits. The two McLarens mounted the hard tyres
Alonso makes up for it under Perez, Leclerc overtakes Gasly at the first corner and goes up to eighth
Straight by Verstappen at the final chicane, turn 23
4th lap – Perez brings the advantage over Alonso to 6/10, Russell holds the third position ahead of Stroll and Sainz. Sixth Ocon, then Hamilton Gasly Leclerc and Zhou in the top ten. Verstappen moved up to 11th.
3rd lap – Perez passes Alonso well at the first corner and takes the lead
Lap 2 – Alonso has an advantage of 8 tenths on Perez, 2″2 on Russell third with a small margin on Stroll and Sainz. Ocon is sixth then Hamilton Gasly Leclerc ninth, Zhou Magnussen Hulkenberg Verstappen 13th, Tsunoda Bottas Albon Norris Sargeant De Vries , plates
Alonso receives a 5″ penalty which he will have to serve at the pit stop
Alonso at risk of penalty for not having placed well in the starting pitch, too far ahead
In the pits Piastri, nose change due to damage to the front wing
Stroll overtakes Sainz with a nice pass on the outside
Great start for Alonso who takes the lead ahead of Perez Russell Sainz Stroll Ocon Hamilton Piastri Gasly Hulkenberg
The twenty single-seaters are lining up
Once the reconnaissance lap has begun, there are no less than 27 corners on the Jeddah city track
Leclerc’s choice of the soft Pirellis suggests that he will immediately go on the attack
Everything is ready for departure. Hamilton and Sargeant take off with hard tyres, Leclerc and Norris with soft, all the others with mediums
It’s a Big prize certainly anomalous that of Jeddah. First of all for the street circuit, very fast and dangerous like no other with its blind spots, then for what happened in qualifying, with Max Verstappen relegated to 15th position due to the failure of the axle shaft in Q2. And with Charles Leclerc, second Saturday, who will have to start 12th due to the penalty caused by replacing the control unit, the third mounted on his SF-23. Benefiting from this were Sergio Perez who took pole home keeping Red Bull-Honda in front of everyone, and Fernando Alonso, who at 41 is living a second youth with Aston Martin-Mercedes and will start from the front row alongside of the Mexican.
Carlos Sainz becomes the tip of Ferrari: he will start from the fourth pitch of the second row, to his left a perky George Russell with the Mercedes who has to register the discontent of Lewis Hamilton, seventh behind Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon. It will certainly be a race full of emotions and we will see how Leclerc and Verstappen manage to recover from their unusual starting positions.
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