This was an absolutely insane race! Controversy, accidents or what did the Saudi Arabia VC bring?

Several safety cars, more controversy in the championship battle, red flags, hard fights and accidents – the Saudi Grand Prix was undoubtedly an infarct affair. How did the twenty-first event of the season turn out?

Even before the race weekend started, Esteban Ocon let it be known that he was expecting a crazy race. And he was right.

On lap ten of the Saudi Grand Prix, we saw Mick Schumacher crash hard into the tech barrier at turn 22, forcing him to retire from the race. The latter was so damaged that after three more laps of circling behind the safety car, the race was abandoned via red flags.

There was one crucial moment here, as a number of drivers took advantage of the pit stop to change tyres. However, Max Verstappen stayed on the track and took the lead of the race, and would later have to complete his pit-stop, and not just due to tyre wear.

However, thanks to the late race suspension, he received one pit-stop for free, so to speak. Under the current regulations, the mechanics are allowed to change the driver’s tyres.

After about twenty minutes, we finally saw a restart from the fixed positions and the race was back on the circuit in Jeddah. But not for long.

Sergio Pérez took the fight with Charles Leclerc by contact with the wall, and the chaos after the restart then culminated in a mutual collision between George Russell and Nikita Mazepin. Red flags waved for the second time on the circuit and the race was abandoned again. In any case, all three retired from the Saudi Arabian GP.

But that was not the end of the drama. After the second restart, Ocon and Lewis Hamilton collided at the very first corner, but Hamilton’s Mercedes suffered no serious damage. Moreover, on lap 18, the British driver managed to overtake the Alpina driver and move into second place.

Five laps later, we witnessed another accident involving Yuki Cunoda and Sebastian Vettel. This resulted in the race being slowed by the virtual safety car, but the Alpha Tauri driver pitted at the end of the lap and was able to continue the race.

Two laps later, Fernando Alonso provided a dramatic and equally dangerous moment in the middle sector. It was only with luck that no serious collision resulted.

On lap 27, Sebastian Vettel was on the scene again. In a fierce duel with Kimi Räikkönen, the German driver damaged his Aston Martin so badly that another virtual safety car was called in.

On lap 33, we could race again, but more debris flew off Vettel’s car, and so on lap 36 the virtual safety car was called again.

A Formula One fan was surprised he didn’t have a heart attack. There was a lot going on at the track, and we’re far from finished. An interesting battle between Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo three laps later. The Finnish driver then successfully got past the McLaren driver on lap 40.

But something happened on that 39th circuit that caused a lot of controversy. As you will see in the video below, Verstappen was ordered to let Hamilton back in front of him for the earlier incident. In a post-race interview afterwards, the seven-time champion explained that he didn’t receive this information in time and that’s why he crashed into Verstappen.

Vettel also retired on lap 46, becoming the fifth driver to retire early from the Saudi Grand Prix.

The icing on the cake then was the duel between Ocon and Bottas for third place. The Alpine driver lost the podium on the home straight!

Hamilton took the win, with Verstappen second and Bottas third ahead of Ocon. Fifth place went to Ricciardo, who finally managed to score points after three races. The number 6 position belongs to Gasly, the seventh and eighth place to the Ferrari drivers (Leclerc 7th, Sainz 8th).

Two points for ninth position went to Antonio Giovinazzi, with Lando Norris rounding out the top ten. The extra championship point for the fastest lap of the race goes to Hamilton, Verstappen was voted the best driver of the day.

But the results of the Saudi Grand Prix mean one thing. Both players in the title battle have the same number of points, and the final race in Abu Dhabi will decide who will celebrate their championship in a week’s time!

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