Saudi Arabia Grand Prix – The Hits and Misses from the Editor’s desk

The TOP 3:

Bearman, the beautiful Saudi story

Remember this name! Surprise guest on the starting grid to cover for convalescent Carlos Sainz’s withdrawal, Oliver Bearman successfully completed his debut in the top category.

The British driver, who took place in the second red single-seater from FP3, narrowly missed a place in Q3, finishing in 11th position, which, considering his inexperience and young age, was already a good performance.

But not to worry, the Prema driver in Formula 2 delivered a race full of panache by treating us to magnificent overtakes and resisting the strong comeback from Norris and Hamilton, if you please, to secure a superb 7th place!

Warmly congratulated by his elders, in particular by his teammate Leclerc, who also had a very good race, it is above all internally that Bearman scored big points by returning the confidence that Vasseur placed in him. A future F1 starter? A matter of time we shall say!

2. Verstappen once again alone on his own planet

The race weekends follow and resemble each other for the triple world champion. Indeed, the Dutchman secured his first pole position in Jeddah, setting a new circuit record in the process. The next day, Mad Max once again delivered a perfect performance, winning without hesitation ahead of his teammate Perez, who ensured Red Bull’s second one-two finish in as many races this season.

Internally, things may not be looking as rosy, but the sports plan of the Austrian team is still going well for both the team and its star driver.

3. Hülkenberg gives Haas a valuable point

The tightening of performances at the top of the table offers few opportunities for small teams to score points at the beginning of the season. That’s why seizing every opportunity to score each point will be crucial for them. And that’s what Haas managed to do this Saturday with Nico Hülkenberg.

The German driver, a victim of mechanical boredom in qualifying, only placed 15th, but he drove a sublime race by opting for a different strategy when the safety car was triggered by Lance Stroll. “Hulk” was one of the 4 drivers who tried not to stop and continued with his set of medium tires.

Far behind the best but well ahead of his direct rivals, the Haas driver also took advantage of superb teamwork from Magnussen (pushing the limits on some of his maneuvers) to secure a free pit stop and return to the track without trembling to snatch the point for the 10th place and allow his American team to place 6th in the Constructors’ standings.

Unexpected but well-deserved for Ayao Komatsu’s men!

The FLOP 3:

When will the farce of Lance Stroll end?

We keep repeating the same old story every year. Lance Stroll’s underwhelming performances are starting to become laughable. If the Canadian made it to Q3 on Friday, he was still outpaced by 7 tenths by his two-time world champion teammate.

And the next day, after a failed takeoff, caught up by an overtake on Tsunoda, the Aston Martin driver made exactly the same mistake as in free practice by hitting the wall, breaking his front left suspension and sending him straight into the TecPro.

After already costing his team the fourth place in the constructors’ championship last year, the Canadian driver, although supported by his father who owns the team but eager for success, will have to quickly pull himself together for his own good and that of his team.

2. Ricciardo reported missing

If the Racing Bulls team itself could be in the Flops as much was expected of the former AlphaTauri, it must be said that Daniel Ricciardo really reflected on his own the difficulties of the team both in the race and in qualifying. Beaten heavily by Tsunoda in quali, the Australian was non-existent throughout the race, not helped by a never-ending pit stop by his team at the time of the Safety Car.

The former Red Bull driver must also regain the level he was known for a few years ago if he wants to aspire to return to the main team as number two. So far, things are not off to a good start.

3. The reliability of Alpine is once again dragged down.

We weren’t expecting much in terms of performance from the French team this weekend, especially after the disappointment in Bahrain. But if in addition to that, reliability issues start to arise for the Enstone team, the recovery could be even harder than anticipated!

Qualified 17th and 18th, the Alpine were closer than the previous weekend on a single lap. But from the formation lap, Pierre Gasly’s gearbox showed signs of weakness, forcing the Normand to retire at the end of the first race lap.

On his side, Esteban Ocon had a very good race considering the equipment at his disposal, fighting for a time for points position with Kevin Magnussen but gradually overshadowed by his competitors at the end of the Grand Prix.

As Enzo Ferrari said, “If you want to finish first, first you have to finish,” and it is therefore essential for Alpine to improve on reliability if they want to turn around the drift of their single-seater. The road is still infinitely long for the French manufacturer!