F1: Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as Max Verstappen goes from 15th to 2nd

Sergio Perez won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from pole position in a Red Bull one-two on Sunday with Max Verstappen staying top of the championship after racing from 15th to second with the fastest lap.

Two-time Formula One world champion Verstappen grabbed the bonus point from Perez with a late blast around Jeddah’s brightly lit Corniche road circuit that put him ahead of the Mexican.

The result was Red Bull’s second in as many races this season, but reversed in the March 5 opener in Bahrain.

Perez also started on pole last year before ending up fourth after an unfortunate safety car, but this time he stuck it out despite another intervention.

Experience that winning feeling… for the fifth time!

🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆#SaudiArabianGP #F1 @SCecoPerez pic.twitter.com/jYmciLtxrK

– Formula 1 (@F1) March 20, 2023

“The safety car again tried to take the victory from us in Jeddah but not now,” he said.

“I was there for the victory last year so I finally got it,” added the Mexican, who now has five career wins and finished 5.355 seconds clear despite the safety car cutting the early advantage.

Verstappen now has 44 points, Perez 43 and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso 30.

Red Bull has 87 points in the constructors’ standings with Aston Martin and Mercedes level on 38.

Alonso was third at the checkered flag on the 100th career podium for the 41-year-old double world champion, but the Spaniard was handed a 10-second penalty after his podium celebrations and dropped to fourth.

He was later reinstated hours after the race ended after the stewards’ review of new evidence provided by the team.

“I’m happy in the end with tonight’s result and the second podium. We showed that we can be the second fastest team and we had a good pace during the race,” Alonso said in a team statement.

The reversal meant Mercedes’ George Russell moved from fourth to the podium and back to fourth again.

Seven-time world champion team-mate Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz sixth.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was seventh with Alpine pair Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly eighth and ninth respectively and Kevin Magnussen took the final points for Haas.

Great getaway

Alonso made a brilliant breakaway to pass Perez into the first corner and lead the race for the first time since 2012, when he was with Ferrari, but any joy was short-lived as the stewards investigated the wrong starting position.

Television replays showed the Spaniard had lined up too far to the left of the front row and he was given a five-second penalty.

He received a fault and took a penalty on lap 19 after the safety car, triggered by his Canadian teammate Lance Stroll stopped on the track, was deployed.

The stewards then investigated whether Alonso had taken the five-second penalty correctly and imposed a 10-second sanction after the race before accepting the gray area and performing a U-turn.

Perez took four laps to take charge with the Mexican meeting no resistance as he passed through the lead, but he couldn’t relax.

Verstappen, who suffered a drive-shaft failure in qualifying, was up to 11th after five laps and on lap 12 passed Hamilton for eighth.

When the car’s safety period ended on lap 20, Verstappen pushed Russell to third and took the place three laps later.

Verstappen was second, 5.6 seconds behind Perez, at the halfway mark, but the gap remained with the Red Bulls in their own race.

There was a moment of worry on the pit wall as Verstappen reported a “strange disturbance at high speed” with some 13 laps remaining.

“I think the drive-shaft is running a bit rough,” said the race engineer.

“It’s done until it’s done,” he explained later. “I was second and had a big gap, so we decided to call it a day and settle for second, which was quite a recovery.”

McLaren had a difficult weekend and have yet to score.

Australian rookie Oscar Piastri pitted for a new front wing after first lap contact with Gasly’s Alpine and Lando Norris followed him with damage. Piastri is 15th and Norris is 17th.

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