SERGIO PEREZ held off Max Verstappen to win the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as Crimson Bull’s dominant begin to the brand new season continued in Jeddah.
Perez crossed the road 5.3 seconds away from team-mate Verstappen, who fought again from fifteenth after he limped out of qualifying with a driveshaft failure.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso took the ultimate spot on the rostrum, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton fourth and fifth respectively for Mercedes.
Crimson Bull are on one other planet this season, and their crushing one-two end — their second in as many races — can be a serious reason behind concern for Components One bosses because it embarks on a report 23-round calendar.
Russell mentioned after the season-opening race in Bahrain a fortnight in the past that he expects Crimson Bull to win each race this 12 months, and their fast type right here on the Crimson Sea has performed little to dispel the British driver’s chilling prediction.
Reliability seems to be their solely flaw, with Verstappen complaining a couple of doable driveshaft downside within the latter phases of Sunday’s race, solely 24 hours after he broke down in qualifying.
However the Dutchman and his victorious team-mate nonetheless held a huge one-second-a-lap benefit over their rivals. Alonso completed 20.7 seconds behind Perez, who eased off within the closing phases.
Alonso, the 41-year-old Spaniard who’s having fun with a exceptional resurgence with Aston Martin, offered some pleasure within the opening moments when he dived beneath pole-sitter on the run all the way down to the opening bend.
However Alonso’s probabilities of taking his first victory in a decade had been dealt a big blow when he was handed a five-second penalty for beginning out of place. Perez then breezed previous Alonso on lap 4 to take the lead.
Hamilton began seventh and was the one one of many important gamers to start the race on the arduous tyres – the slower however extra sturdy compound — and the British driver struggled for velocity.
He dropped to eighth on lap eight when Charles Leclerc cantered by, after which fell behind Verstappen on lap 12 to go away him in ninth. He was additionally proven a black and white flag by the stewards for weaving on the straight as he earlier tried to maintain Leclerc again.
However Hamilton’s night time abruptly modified for the higher when Lance Stroll broke down in his Aston Martin on lap 18. Out got here the security automotive and Hamilton was successfully handed a free pit cease, transferring him forward of each Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
The security automotive additionally performed into Alonso’s fingers, as he served his five-second penalty, and Verstappen, too, who additionally had not stopped.
After all of it shuffled out the Dutchman was as much as fourth. The race restarted on lap 21 and Verstappen made mild work of Russell after which Alonso to take second place.
Such is the velocity of the Crimson Bull this 12 months that Alonso didn’t even put up a struggle in conserving Verstappen behind, and danger dropping time to Russell and Hamilton within the struggle for the ultimate podium spot.
Verstappen had half of the race remaining to overturn Perez’s five-second benefit, however the Mexican drove effectively to observe up his pole with a composed win, the fifth of his profession.
Hamilton, having ditched the arduous rubber, regarded primed to launch an assault on Russell however his problem by no means materialised. He took the flag 5.1 seconds behind his team-mate and half a minute down on Perez.
Sainz completed sixth, one spot forward of Leclerc within the different Ferrari. Lando Norris began nineteenth and completed seventeenth on a weekend to overlook for the younger British driver in his uncompetitive McLaren.
