After an intense and dramatic session at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Sunday, Max Verstappen came in second behind championship rival Lewis Hamilton.
The battle for the championship title was well and truly on between the Red Bull Racing Honda and Mercedes drivers from the start, with the pair swapping first and second places throughout a race characterised by crashes, three virtual safety car periods, two restarts and stewards investigating a number of incidents after the race.
A collision between Verstappen and Hamilton, when Hamilton went into the back of Verstappen after the Dutchman had slowed down to allow the Briton to pass – as instructed by the Team – is being investigated. In a separate incident between the rivals, Verstappen received a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
The two drivers are now equal on the leaderboard with 369.5 points each; it’s only the second time in Formula One history that the championship title has been tied at the final race – the last time being in 1974. The final race of the season, and the championship decider, will be held at Abu Dhabi next weekend.
Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda driver Pierre Gasly, of France, finished in sixth place.
There was disappointment for Gasly’s team-mate, Yuki Tsunoda, who finished 14th; the Japanese driver earned a five-second penalty for causing a collision with German driver Sebastian Vettel.
Red Bull Racing Honda’s Sergio Pérez also suffered some bad luck; the Mexican was involved in a collision with Monégasque Charles Leclerc and retired from the race at the first restart.
Red Bull Racing Honda
MAX VERSTAPPEN – 2nd
“There was definitely a lot of action today, a lot of things happened. I was told to give the position back, so I moved off the racing line and slowed down, Lewis just stayed behind me, I don’t understand why he didn’t pass. I don’t agree with the five-second penalty, but it is what it is and we’ll just move on.
We didn’t have a perfect pace in the race today, so that’s something to work on looking ahead to Abu Dhabi. We’re on equal points now heading into the final race, it’s going to be an exciting end to the season.”
SERGIO PÉREZ – DNF
“It wasn’t the best weekend for the team, we lost crucial points in the Constructors’ Championship, so we are going to Abu Dhabi now to try and turn things around. We were slightly unlucky with the first red flag, but we got away well after the second restart. We got past Gasly and Charles and as I was coming out of Turn 3 there just wasn’t enough room for everyone, given how the corner was. I ended up tangling with Charles, he clipped my rear tyre with his front right tyre.
It was a bad moment for everyone, but just a very unlucky one. It is just a big shame because we needed those points today. I stayed with the car out on track because we were trying to turn the engine back on, we thought we could restart it but it was a bit on the hot side so we had to retire. It was a very important race for the team today, so this one hurts a lot, but there is hope for Abu Dhabi. There is still optimism and something to fight for and we will give the final race of the season everything, so let’s look forward.”
CHRISTIAN HORNER – Team Principal
“There was obviously an awful lot of damage and debris for Race Control to deal with because of all the incidents, so it was a frustrating race in that respect and we were probably lucky to come away with second, especially given the amount of damage we had to the back of our car. I don’t know what Lewis was doing, because Max was trying to give the place up as instructed by Race Control. He lifted and you can hear that. It was clear we were trying to give the place up and we’d informed Race Control. I don’t know if Lewis didn’t want to pass before the DRS zone, but it was very strange to have him drive straight up the back of Max. We got a five-second time penalty – I thought it was on the harsh side, they both went wide and were racing. Max has fought like a gladiator this weekend and given it everything. It was frustrating to drop points in the Constructors’ Championship with Checo being taken out at the restart, so we now have one chance. We have a week to regroup and now it goes down to the wire at Abu Dhabi. It’s a straight-out fight as it has been for the entire year. For the fans it is fantastic, it keeps the championship dream alive and we have one shot and it’s time to take it.”
Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda
PIERRE GASLY – 6th
“I’m very pleased with today, finishing in the top six in front of Ferrari. I’m really happy with that result and we’re taking home a lot of points again. We knew it was going to be tricky coming to a new track, but we’ve performed well throughout the weekend and had a strong starting position today.
It was a difficult race, with lots of things happening and it was very long, which meant it required a lot of focus. We know how complicated it is into the first corner here, so having three starts was intense, but we tried to take every opportunity we could and in the end, I think we did a good job.”
YUKI TSUNODA – 14th
“It’s been a tough afternoon. I struggled at the beginning of the race, but I think the final restart went well and I managed to gain back some places. Unfortunately, I pushed a bit too hard and I had the collision with Vettel. The pace in the car was looking quite good at that point in the race, so I should’ve held off and waited for another opportunity to overtake, it was my mistake and I’ve apologised to him. It’s frustrating as I feel like points were on offer today.”
FRANZ TOST – Team Principal
“Firstly, congratulations to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for this fantastic event here in Jeddah. They’ve built a really great track, although if I had to suggest an improvement that could be made for next year I would say to bring in some more cranes, so that any car involved in accidents can be cleared away quicker, avoiding long red flag periods.
“From our side today, Pierre started from P6, but his first start was not so good, and he finished the first lap in eighth position. Yuki started in P8 and also lost some positions on the first lap, but both drivers were able to regain some of them thanks to the red flags. Pierre especially did a really good job coming back after the second red flag and regained P6, which he was able to defend until the chequered flag. He drove another fantastic race today and showed a very strong performance yet again, so well done to him. Yuki also improved a lot in the final stint of the race and was able to overtake a few cars to make his way up to P9. Unfortunately, he then had the collision with Vettel in corner one. I think he did the right thing to try and overtake but, unfortunately, they touched and he sustained damage to the front wing. He had to come in to change it, we put him on the hard tyres and, from then on, he drove a good race with strong lap times. Overall, it was a good first experience in Saudi Arabia for us, with a sixth position from Pierre and with Yuki also showing a really great performance throughout the weekend. We’re now looking forward to the final race in Abu Dhabi, where we hope to have another good last event of this season.”