Red Bull Racing Sergio Perez won with an impressive show on Sunday Saudi Arabia Grand Prixwhich served as the second round of the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship.
However, his teammate Max Verstappen was perhaps more impressive. The reigning world champion recovered from 15th to finish second, making it a one-two for Red Bull.
Third place went to Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who drove brilliantly despite some setbacks. His podium appearance was the 100th of his career.
The race started with Perez on pole and Alonso also at the top of the grid. Alonso had a better start, but the stewards later gave him a five-second penalty as his car came off the grid. The two players later traded places before Perez took the lead and comfortably held it until the end.
Alonso was also handed a 10-second penalty as one of his mechanics was adjudged to have touched the car while serving the first penalty, which dropped the two-time world champion to fourth place at the end of the race and promoted him to Mercedes-Benz. AMG’s George Russell is third. The stewards later reversed the decision and returned third place to Alonso.
Further back, Verstappen slowly moved up the order and passed the driver without problem. However, on lap 37, with only Perez in front of him, Verstappen reported a strange noise from his car and decided to slow down, fearing that the noise might have been the same driveshaft problem that plagued him during qualifying. He settled for second, but managed to get a bonus point for the fastest lap.
There was only one safety car period, which is unusual for the Saudi race. The safety car was called on lap 18 when Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was told to stop his car after his team discovered a fault.
After the weekend’s action, Verstappen leads the 2023 drivers’ championship by 44 points. Perez is second with 43 points and Alonso is third with 30 points. In the constructors’ championship, Red Bull leads with 87 points, compared to 38 points for Aston Martin and Mercedes. The next race on the calendar is the Australian Grand Prix on April 2.
Full results for the 2023 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix are below:
1) Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing
2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing +5.355 seconds
3) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +20.728 seconds
4) George Russell, Mercedes-Benz AMG +25.866 seconds
5) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-Benz AMG +31.065 seconds
6) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari +35.876 seconds
7) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +43.162 seconds
8) Esteban Ocon, Alpine +52.832 seconds
9) Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri +54.747 seconds
10) Kevin Magnussen, Haas +64.826 seconds
11) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri +67.494 seconds
12) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas +70.588 seconds
13) Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo +76.060 seconds
14) Nyck De Vries, AlphaTauri +77.478 seconds
15) Oscar Piastri, McLaren +85.021 seconds
16) Logan Sargeant, Williams +86.293 seconds
17) Lando Norris, McLaren +86.445 seconds
18) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo +1 lap
NC) Alexander Albon, Williams – DNF
NC) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin – DNF
This article was originally published by Motor Authorityeditorial partner ClassicCars.com.
