F1. Saudi Arabia 2023 review

By Gavin Huet, Chelsea Wintle and Aiden McLaughlin

Driver of the day
Gavin – It has to be Sergio Perez doesn’t it? 20 laps to go, a flying Verstappen closing in on him, you would have put the house on Max taking the victory. But no, Perez matched Verstappen and the two swapped a couple of fastest laps for good measure. I think there will be a couple of other weekends when Perez will be able to best Verstappen, but not enough that he will be a realistic title contender.

Chelsea – I can’t go past Sergio Perez. After a tight start he retook the lead and held off a challenge from Max for the second half of the race. A pleasure to watch. It would be wonderful to watch 2023 to play out with some feisty intra-team rivalry like in 2016, but ultimately it’s not a balanced playing field, even at this point of the year. I hope for more strong performances by Checo.

Aiden – There’s an argument for Max Verstappen, given where he started on the grid, but I’m going to go for Sergio Perez. He might have a seat in the best team, but because of that, the pressure is considerable. He overcame being overtaken by Fernando Alonso at the start, some safety car periods and the challenge from his team-mate to take the victory. Now, can he build on it….

Moment of the weekend
Gavin – Oscar Piastri getting past his team mate Lando Norris. Ok, the McLarens were at the back of the pack and so out of sorts that they were hardly mentioned, but for a rookie to get the okay to pass the established driver tells you that they are someone to keep an eye on. I think Daniel Ricciardo would be looking at the McLaren performance and thanking his stars he left even if he does not currently have a drive.
Chelsea – Jos Verstappen, face like a bag of spanners, standing stock-still as Red Bull deliriously celebrated Sergio Perez around him. The video is worth several rewatches. It’s clear that Team Verstappen are not here to make friends, but the downside to being a dick is that people think you’re a dick. That, combined with the risk of getting tomato sauce on Geri’s alabaster pantsuit, is why Red Bull would be lowest on my list of garages to party in.

Aiden – Max Verstappen’s driveshaft failure in qualifying. Without that, it’s odds on we would have witnessed another procession victory from the two-time world champion. Having to start from 15th made for a far more intriguing race. Yes, Red Bull still ended up with a dominant 1-2 as Verstappen made his way through the field , but at least the script was mixed up.

Hot take of the weekend
Gavin – For a moment I thought Ferrari were getting their strategy right and it would be the start of a wonderful new era. The team called Carlos Sainz in but then he stayed out, all the while Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin goes into the pits in a reaction to the Ferrari call – was this Ferrari calling their bluff or Aston Martin attempting to hold the Ferraris at bay? The Ferrari came in shortly afterwards and had the jump on the Aston Martin. However it all went wrong as the Aston Martin came to a halt forcing the safety car to make an appearance and allow all the other teams a low risk pit stop.
Chelsea – The debacle over whether Alonso or Russell would be awarded third place aside, I remain befuddled. Surely teams have learned from Esteban Ocon’s experience last race that the FIA are not messing around when it comes to starting grid positioning or pit stop penalties. You would be looking to keep your nostrils absolutely clear when it comes to avoidable breaches, and leaning a jack against the car while waiting out a penalty? The car is lava, man, the car is lava! It’s not hard to not do the tiny dumb things.

Aiden – I’m sticking to my prediction, https://www.sportsfreak.co.nz/formula-1-season-2023-preview/, that George Russell will finish ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the championship this season, but I’m not expecting it to be as close as I originally thought. We all know Hamilton’s record, and you can’t 100% rule him out, but I expected more from him in the first two races. He is downbeat, consistently behind Russell and his split from long-time physiotherapist/personal trainer/personal assistant/friend/confidante Angela Cullen, whatever the reasons, is disruptive. I’m calling another winless season for the seven time world champion.

 

Cold take of the weekend
Gavin – There were two instances where you could feel the soul of the driver leave their bodies and you really felt for them.
The first was when Mercedes were telling George Russell he may need to let Lewis Hamilton through as Lewis was currently faster. George replied that he was still in the race for a podium finish against the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso who still had a 5 second penalty to serve, only for his engineer to tell him that Fernando had already served that penalty… No words for what George must have been feeling right there.
The second was at the end of the race and the top three placed drivers were waiting to go out on the podium (and Fernando was cheekily sitting in the chair reserved for race winner Sergio), the two Red Bull drivers were discussing those last laps and Sergio was finding out that Max had taken the fastest lap, thereby placing him one point ahead in the drivers championship, from Sergio who was saying that he was told to take it easy… That realisation that you are really the number two driver that early on in the season will be a blow.

Chelsea – It’s surely too early in the season for Ferrari to be meme-worthy, but here we are.

This pretty much sums it up. Charles Leclerc’s dissatisfaction with the weekend was evident, and fair. Classic Ferrari: a combination of dubious strategy, poor communication, a touch of bad luck, and a car that’s just on the cusp of being competitive. Finishing behind both Mercedes would have been a massive blow.

Aiden – Red Bull have now won 12 of the last 13 races. People will stop tuning in on race day if the dominance goes on much longer (if they haven’t already). For their own sake, as well as the overall championship, Mercedes and Ferrari need to find more performance and quickly. Aston Martin are doing their best, and I expect Alonso to pick up a win somewhere along the line this season, but he’s not challenging for the drivers championship.

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