The Dutchman made it nine in as many races as he comfortably won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen won from pole position at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as Red Bull continued their dominant start to the Formula One season with a series of back-to-back races.
Mexican Sergio Perez finished runner-up under the Jeddah Corniche floodlights on Saturday, taking the checkered flag 13.643 seconds behind last year’s winner his triple world champion team-mate.
It was the first time Verstappen, who won a record 19 of 22 races last year, has won the first two races of a season.
Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari, taking the bonus point for fastest lap and his first podium of the season.
The victory was Verstappen’s ninth in a row, dating back to Japan last September, and the 56th of the 26-year-old Dutch driver’s career.
It was also his 100th career podium while Red Bull’s 115th victory moved them ahead of Williams for fourth on the all-time list.
“Overall, a fantastic weekend for the whole team and for me. I felt really good with the car and that was in the race,” Verstappen said.
Britain’s Oliver Biermann, aged 18 years and 305 days, made his F1 race debut as Ferrari’s youngest ever rookie after Spaniard Carlos Sainz fell ill with appendicitis, finishing seventh and voted Driver of the Day. was done
“Today he was incredible,” said Leclerc of his temporary team. “It’s very impressive and I’m sure he’s extremely proud. Everyone has realized how talented he is and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before he’s in F1.
Oscar Pastry finished fourth for McLaren, ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Mercedes’ George Russell and Biermann, two more Britons, Lando Norris and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, eighth and ninth for McLaren and Mercedes, Nico Hulkenberg. with eighth and ninth place. Last point for Haas.
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‘One of the more physical races’
After his ninth consecutive victory, Verstappen said it was “one of the more physical races, a tough one”.
The safety car was deployed on lap seven after Aston Martin’s Lance Stoll hit the wall and then crashed into the barriers at turn 22.
The Canadian walked away unscathed, with the remaining four drivers, including Norris and Hamilton, pitted.
Norris, who was later cleared from the grid for a dubious jump start, was leading when the new Aston Martin Vintage safety car returned to the pit on lap nine but Verstappen was ahead on lap 13 and pulling away.
Perez was given a five-second penalty for leaving his first pit stop unprotected and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen collected a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Williams’ Alex Albon.
Dean was later given another 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining the advantage but his main role was to create enough of a gap behind Hulkenberg for the German to win and still be able to finish with valuable points.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was asked to pit and park on the opening lap due to a suspected gearbox problem, the first retirement of the season after all 20 cars finished the opener in Bahrain a week earlier.