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The Saudi Arabian GP redeemed itself on Sunday by producing a thrilling battle between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. The race featured action up and down the grid, and for a change, it did not feature too many stoppages and race-ending incidents.
While the teams will have a much-needed breather with a one-week break before the Australian GP, let's revisit what happened in our review for the Saudi Arabian GP.
2022 F1 Saudi Arabian GP: Race Review
Overtake of the race
Max Verstappen on Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc, for the second time in two races, appeared to have Max Verstappen figured out in a wheel-to-wheel battle. Both championship contenders were locked in a battle for the lead after the VSC period.
It was at this point that Leclerc pulled out the trump card of backing off and letting Verstappen by before the last DRS section and then taking the place back in the next straight. The Dutchman was visibly furious with the mind games but gathered himself a few laps later.
The eventual overtake featured Verstappen just hanging behind the Ferrari driver before the last DRS detection point and then using Red Bull's straight line speed advantage to blast past Leclerc. The overtake itself might not have been as spectacular but the build-up, the stakes, and the final execution made it the best of the race.
Surprise of the weekend
McLaren's points finish
Lando Norris finished the Saudi Arabian GP in P7. Now, yes, we had predicted a points finish for McLaren this weekend but we did not even expect such a turnaround from the team.
The Saudi Arabian GP track layout was more in line with the strengths of the car, as Norris alluded to after the race. Seeing the team fighting for points, however, was a welcome surprise after a torrid first race in Bahrain.
Disappointment of the weekend
Mercedes strategy unit
The Mercedes strategy unit took a massive "L" with Lewis Hamilton this weekend. First, it was the poor setup that forced Lewis Hamilton out of Q1, and then in the race, missing the opportunity to pit for Medium tires while Haas nailed it was disappointing.
If Hamilton was embroiled in a title fight right now, we might have seen an exaggerated reaction from him as he left a chunk of points on the table. For now, however, the team is tackling far too many demons to even get bothered by something like that.
The highlight of the race
The Battle of the Alpines
This deserves a special mention because it's not often that we see two teammates battle it out on the track. Alpine allowed its drivers, both Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso, to battle it out for P6 early in the race.
In retrospect, however, it was to the detriment of the team as both the drivers took lumps of time out of each other and allowed Magnussen and Bottas to close up. The battle between the young Frenchman and the old legend was something that kept everyone on the hook at the start of the race.
The biggest shock
Lack of stoppages in the race
Many fans were grimacing at the idea of what was in store for the Saudi Arabian GP on Sunday. The first edition of the race last season was chaotic, to say the least. To add to this, the build-up to the race was far from ideal. Mick Schumacher's crash raised question marks on the track layout yet again. This was followed by the F2 sprint race being an utter disaster with 14 out of 20 laps getting affected by stoppages.
Everyone expected the race to have chaos written all over it (hence our predictions). However, the race was rather straightforward. Sure, there was an SC and VSC period, but it was not as disrupting as many might have thought the race to be. All in all, the Saudi Arabian GP, on the whole, was the most pleasant surprise of the weekend.
The driver of the weekend
Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen was not flawless throughout the weekend. His performance during qualifying was rather underwhelming as Sergio Perez got the better of him. What he did, however, was save the best for the race.
During the first stint, it did appear that Verstappen was rather holding himself back and keeping his wits about himself in the 3rd position. After messing up yet another SC restart with his rather different approach of getting side by side with the leader, the Dutchman kept pace with the Ferrari in front, pushing Charles Leclerc all the time. He, however, never lost patience, and then in the end, when finally he sensed vulnerability with the VSC restart he made it count by getting into the DRS zone and making it count.
Verstappen was on the backfoot before the Saudi Arabian GP. He had lost out to Leclerc in the first race of the season and had a 26-point deficit to the Ferrari driver. The win in the Saudi Arabian GP was exactly what he needed to bring himself back in contention.
