Saudi Arabia Grand Prix – The high / low of the editorial team

The TOP 3:

Verstappen / Leclerc, a promising duel!

Act 2 allowed us to understand that this duel would keep us on the edge of our seats for a good part of this 2022 season! While the two protagonists were overshadowed by Sergio Perez in qualifying, things fell back into place after the mid-race Safety Car.

Leclerc and Verstappen did not leave each other’s side throughout the entire 50 laps of the race and gave us some crazy last laps, attacking relentlessly and pushing each other to their limits.

If Victory went to Verstappen in a clever way, the defeated of the day Leclerc strengthens his lead in the championship over a somewhat struggling Sainz this Sunday. The rest promises to be exciting!

2. Cars that follow each other and overtake: the 2022 F1 cars confirm the good hopes.

Last year, the first half of the race was quite boring due to the lack of overtaking and the strong presence of “Dirty air”. This year, the technical revolution has allowed us to witness real battles at all levels of the grid.

A new accomplishment for Ross Brawn and his comrades on a very different circuit from Bahrain. If the next stage in Melbourne is equally filled with battles, the 2022 regulations will undoubtedly have fulfilled many of their promises on this matter!

3. Norris, McLaren’s ray of sunshine

Plunged into a results crisis, mainly due to a struggling Mercedes engine this year, McLaren has somewhat lifted its head up compared to Bahrain. Indeed, Lando Norris allowed the team to score its first 6 points of the season, and the Briton thoroughly deserved his loot.

He could even have scored two more, but Esteban Ocon denied him under the checkered flag. While Daniel Ricciardo was not helped by luck, the Australian was also in the points before retiring due to a mechanical issue. There is improvement among the Orange team!

The FLOP 3:

1. Context, contingencies, track, commissioners… When will the Jeddah charade finally end?

Attack 10 kilometers from the circuit, drivers forced and compelled to race, incompetent officials, a circuit that still does not have unanimous support… The facts surrounding the organization of this Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia are truly not in its favor.

If we add the missile attack during the ePrix in Riyadh in Formula E in recent years, but also the car bomb during the last Dakar, the Saudi geopolitical context becomes increasingly obscure and raises questions about the future of the round.

If money is indeed king, as we stated in our editorial, historic Grand Prix races have sometimes lost their spot for less than that, such as Bahrain in 2011 or even Turkey for 10 years, despite the infrastructure, circuits, and personnel being highly praised by the Formula One Circus and fans alike.

You must know how to say stop!

2. Ocon VS Alonso, the internal squabble bordering on the ridiculous

If Esteban Ocon magnificently finished in 6th place and Fernando Alonso had bad luck by retiring due to a mechanical issue, the two Alpine drivers have dealt a serious blow to their perfect relationship until now.

Indeed, with a clear lack of pace compared to the Spaniard, the French driver defended excessively, sometimes even beyond the limit, and could have caused the retirement of both cars. The double world champion then responded by squeezing his teammate at turn two after overtaking him to express his frustration.

In order to fight for the 4th place in the constructors’ championship, let’s hope that the two protagonists will play as team players rather than playing each for themselves.

3. Hamilton was defeated and unrecognizable this weekend.

A Grand Prix unlike any he hadn’t experienced in a long time. Eliminated in Q1 in a fair manner (excluding crashes and mechanical issues) for the first time since Silverstone 2009, the seven-time world champion appeared to be lacking solutions and at times even absent throughout the weekend.

If we can’t exclude that the context weighed on his morale, the poor performance of his Mercedes definitely didn’t help and the comparison with his teammate Russell, who legitimately finished 5th, hurt during this Grand Prix.

No doubt that the British and their team will try to solve their problems at the next Grand Prix and that such a performance will not be taken as a lesson.