Max Verstappen flawlessly extended his winning streak to a ninth consecutive victory, aiming for his fourth straight F1 world championship, by leading Red Bull to another one-two finish in the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, came home in second, but it was Ferrari’s Oliver Bearman, stepping in unexpectedly, who shone brightly by finishing seventh in his first Formula 1 race.
Formula One History Recommends
-
2024 Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying: Verstappen Breaks Jeddah Pole Jinx
-
2024 Saudi Arabian GP FP3: Oliver Bearman Debuts With Max Top
-
2024 Saudi Arabian GP FP2: Alonso Quickest Hamilton Investigated
-
Verstappen’s victory marks his second of the 2024 season, placing him one win away from breaking his own record for consecutive F1 victories. The high-speed Jeddah track witnessed Verstappen’s dominance but the race also spotlighted the intense competition behind him, with Oliver Bearman, a British driver making a surprising debut, drawing significant attention.
Bearman, at 18, had only been informed he would be racing after Carlos Sainz’s sudden appendicitis diagnosis. Despite this, he qualified 11th in a car he was unfamiliar with, showing remarkable composure throughout the weekend. His debut under the Jeddah lights was memorable. He advanced to seventh place after overtaking Yuki Tsunoda and Zhou Guanyu and maintained his position under pressure from fellow Brits Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton on newer tyres towards the race’s end.
Bearman’s seventh-place finish not only scored him points on his debut but also made him the third youngest F1 driver of all time.
Perez’s second-place finish came after he overtook Leclerc early in the race, a position he maintained even after a Safety Car period caused by Lance Stroll’s crash. Leclerc finished third, with Perez’s penalty for an unsafe release during a pit stop narrowing their gap.
Oscar Piastri finished fourth for McLaren after a race spent chasing down Hamilton, who, along with several others, opted not to pit during the Safety Car. Fernando Alonso secured fifth in the remaining Aston Martin, with George Russell in sixth for Mercedes, ahead of Bearman, Norris, and Hamilton. Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the points for Haas with a commendable performance.
2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Race Result
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/Retired | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 50 | 1:20:43.273 | 25 |
| 2 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing | 50 | +13.643s | 18 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 50 | +18.639s | 16* |
| 4 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 50 | +32.007s | 12 |
| 5 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 50 | +35.759s | 10 |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 50 | +39.936s | 8 |
| 7 | 38 | Oliver Bearman | Ferrari | 50 | +42.679s | 6 |
| 8 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 50 | +45.708s | 4 |
| 9 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 50 | +47.391s | 2 |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 50 | +76.996s | 1 |
| 11 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 50 | +88.354s | 0 |
| 12 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 50 | +105.737s | 0 |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 49 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 14 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 49 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 15 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 49 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 16 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 49 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 17 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | 49 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 18 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber | 49 | +1 lap | 0 |
| NC | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 5 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1 | DNF | 0 |
Formula 1 picks back up again from March 22-24 for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix resuming a normal race weekend schedule of running from Friday through to Sunday.
Seen in:
