Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023

This Grand Prix was not short of drama, that’s for sure. Let’s get into it, shall we?

I think it’s clear from the first two races of the season that Redbull have picked up where they left off in 2022 and are going to run away with the championship yet again, after claiming another 1-2, but this time, with Sergio Perez taking out the win and golden boy Max Verstappen coming in second.

Mind you, Max’s second place is nothing to be scoffed at, except of course if your Jos Verstappen. The two-time world champ was forced to make up 13 places, after a technical issue meant he was unable to finish qualifying in Q2 and was able to maintain his standing at the top of the championship standing, after snatching the additional point for the fastest lap from his team mate on the final lap of the Grand Prix.

Aston Martin are proving to be a championship contender that no one saw coming with Fernando Alonso taking out the third and final podium position in the opening two rounds of the season. Although not without dramatics.

At the conclusion of this week’s Grand Prix and after the podium had concluded, the Spaniard was awarded a 10 second penalty for failing to correctly serve a 5 second penalty he had been awarded earlier in the race for incorrect position in the Grid box at the start of the race.

With the implementation of this penalty, Alonso was set to drop to fourth, allowing George Russell and his Mercedes to sweep in and claim the coveted third place. But it couldn’t be that simple, could it?

Given that the stewards had over 35 laps between the 5 second penalty being served and the conclusion of the race to inform Aston Martin and Alonso of their findings, this didn’t sit well with the team, who inevitably challenged the decision of the penalty. This was overturned by the stewards and the Spaniard was finally able to celebrate his 100th F1 podium, and George and Mercedes were forced to give back the trophy.

Ferrari are doing what they do best - making questionable strategy decisions.

McLaren 's season has not gotten off to a great start. Despite a miraculous qualifying session from Aussie Oscar Piastri which saw him start eighth on the grid, he was unable to secure his first F1 points thanks to an opening lap incident with Pierre Gasly’s Alpine and subsequent damage to his front wing. This meant that he was forced to pit at the end of the first lap and was not able to make a dramatic come back like Verstappen.

This was compounded when Lando was forced to pit at the end of lap two with the same issue. Placing both McLaren’s at the bottom of the pack fighting Logan Sargeant in the Williams for 15th place.

This battle for 15th has also raised more questions, not only about performance for the standings in the team. For the last two years we have seen team orders benefit him, with former teammate Daniel Ricciardo consistently being told not to overtake him or to protect him from behind if he was struggling. But it appears Lando may have been replaced as the team’s golden boy and priority, with the team giving orders for Lando to let Oscar through.

And now I know what you’re thinking, “Oscar was able to get Sargeant and Lando wasn’t”. “Oscar was quicker and should have been let through”. And I hear you. I do. But there are so many instances where Danny Ric was quicker, or more capable of gaining a position, and he was told to sit tight and maintain position, leading me to believe that there has been a changing of the guard over at McLaren. For what reason, I don’t know. Maybe Lando is sick of driving a tractor every week? Or maybe he wants to overcome his allergy to winning races? I guess we will have to see.