Formula 1 in Saudi Arabia: Verstappen continues to defy the Red Bull Theater – Sport

This time, the spectators didn’t have to wait as long as in Bahrain for the second car to cross the finish line. Last week it was more than 22 seconds, what felt like an eternity, but this time at least it was only eight. But the order at the top remained the same: Again, none of the 19 competitors were able to stop the reigning world champion. Max Verstappen also won the second race of the year in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. This success marks his ninth win in a row across all seasons and his 56th overall in the premier class of motorsport.

And so it became even clearer that there would not be much variety during this historically long season with 24 Grand Prix. “I felt really good in the car and in the race,” said Verstappen. Next to him on the podium was his teammate Sergio Perez, who guaranteed Red Bull’s double success and who received a five-second penalty for driving too riskily after a pit stop. In the statistics he was 13 seconds behind Verstappen. But that wasn’t enough for Charles Leclerc to finish second. He described his working day as “a bit boring race because the Red Bulls were so fast. But we got the most out of it.”

Nico Hülkenberg, the only German in the field, got another point with a strong drive from 15th to 10th in the Haas. This means he is eleventh in the World Cup. Verstappen leads the overall standings with 51 points ahead of Perez (36) and Leclerc (26).

As in Bahrain, what was particularly astonishing was how Verstappen was able to hide what’s going on in his team off the track. Because on Friday, when he easily set the fastest qualifying time, Helmut Marko, the team’s motorsport advisor, sponsor and confidant of the world champion, was suddenly the focus of the corporate dispute. Suddenly it was said that Marko was about to be replaced. What exactly he was accused of remained unclear for the time being, only that a conversation with Red Bull managing director Oliver Mintzlaff was planned for Saturday was known: “Everything has to be right so that I want to continue working there,” said Marko.

Verstappen, in turn, took this news as an opportunity to abandon his previous reticence – more clearly than ever before in this case. He promised severe side effects if Marko was fired. “Then we may have a big problem in the team,” said Verstappen on Friday evening. At Red Bull everyone knows “that for me Helmut always has to be there.” What his future looks like also depends on Marko. What they achieved together goes back a long way: “My loyalty to him is great.”

Marko belongs to the Austrian camp of the Red Bull Group, Horner apparently has the support of the Thai majority owners. The rumored power struggle in the GmbH after the death of founder Dietrich Mateschitz is also reflected in the team. Verstappen said what happens next will be seen next week. Did his clear words play a role? Before the start on Saturday, Marko said that the conversation with Mintzlaff had gone well. The result: “I’ll continue, yes.”

But what were the allegations against Marko? After Horner was acquitted by Red Bull last week of allegations of inappropriate behavior towards an employee, anonymous chat messages and photos were distributed that were said to have been exchanged between him and the employee. He rejected a question about rumors that Marko had sent them on the Sky microphone in Saudi Arabia: “That’s complete nonsense. I’ll be happy if I can use my cell phone halfway.” But the matter is far from over.

At this race in Jeddah, the focus is also on the midfield – because of one special feature

The spectators didn’t have to wait any longer to find out what happened next. Verstappen hadn’t lost a bit of his strength on Saturday either. He got off to a wonderful start at the start and could see in the rearview mirror how Leclerc and Perez were fighting for the first chasing position. Wheel to wheel we went back and forth. Leclerc initially won this duel, but on the fourth lap Perez got past the Ferrari. Would this be a road trip for the world champions from now on?

Open detailed view

This race was exciting regardless of what was happening at the front in the midfield – because of one special feature. Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz was only at the track on Saturday as a visitor. The Spaniard had to undergo surgery on Friday due to appendicitis. In his place, 18-year-old Oliver Bearman drove the 950 hp red racing car.

He would actually have started in Formula 2 this weekend and certainly didn’t expect that he would actually be used as a reserve driver. He barely had time to really familiarize himself with everything. The Englishman still managed to drive the car through qualifying without an accident – and took eleventh place on the grid. This made him the youngest Grand Prix participant in Ferrari’s almost 75-year Formula 1 history. He managed his first overtaking maneuver on the 15th lap, which put him in a points position for the time being. Later he worked his way further. “You’re doing a great job out there,” was the right way to praise him over the radio during the race.

But there was also movement at the front. Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin hit the barrier on the left in a curve, which damaged his left front wheel suspension so much that he lost control and turned right a few meters later. On the seventh lap the yellow flag was waved and the safety car rolled out. First the two Red Bulls and Leclerc used the break and then one after the other to make a pit stop. This caused the order to change after the track was reopened on the ninth lap. Lando Norris in the McLaren did not turn to change tires and now led the field ahead of Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. Norris waited a long time until the opening, but it was worth it: the Englishman was able to keep Verstappen at bay.

But just four laps later, Verstappen had restored the usual order, on the start straight he folded down his rear wing in so-called DRS mode and roared past the McLaren. At the same time, Perez also managed a maneuver. This meant that both Red Bulls were in front again, with Norris and Leclerc behind them. When just over half of the 50 laps on the high-speed circuit had been completed, Verstappen was almost seven seconds ahead of Perez, who in turn was almost six seconds ahead of Leclerc. The Monegasque had passed Norris.

But he could no longer pose a threat to the reigning world champions. At least he got the fastest lap. And Bearman in the second Ferrari? He managed to defend his lead over his compatriots Norris and Hamilton – and scored championship points in seventh place on his debut.