Formula 1: Pérez’s ride, the return of Verstappen and a leading role in the FIA ​​with Alonso

It seems the biggest story to leave this season of Formula 1 is whether Red Bull he will win every race. Yes, 23 until it all ends at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 26. Is that the dominance of the Austrian team is overwhelming. Aston Martin, suspected of having a similar project, could battle Fernando Alonso, like yesterday in Jeddah, for a few laps. Mercedes is not on his heels and barely manages to dent the podium. And Ferrari is too sorry. So if Max Verstappen had celebrated in the opening race in Bahrain, yesterday it was the joy of Sergio Pérez in Saudi Arabia.

The Mexican driver won the fifth Grand Prix of his career and for the fourth time he did so on a street circuit. The Czech is the king of the roads. A house specialty. Although his triumphant debut was with Racing Point in Bahrain 2020, since joining Red Bull he has only won in road races: in 2021, in Baku; in 2022, on the glorious Monaco circuit and in Singapore; and now in Jeddah.

“I was close to winning here last year (he took pole and finished fourth). This time I succeeded. The team has done an amazing job. We will continue to attack hard. The important thing is that we have achieved this double. We still have work to do with our starts and we need to improve on that,” Pérez stressed. Reason is not lacking.

The thing is Alonso, this 41-year-old Fernando Alonso continues to put on a show and have fun in an Aston Martin that drives very well. The Spaniard overtook the Mexican into the first corner and held the lead for a few laps, but the Red Bull would definitely pass him. So it was. Then Verstappen would have done the same and Alonso would have finished third, he would have gotten on the podium, he would have celebrated, they would have sung him by his team… and all so that they would sanction him immediately and drop him to fourth place. But three hours later, in another FIA mess, he was dropped back to third, so Alonso celebrated his 100th podium finish.

What happened? At the start he lost his car and was penalized by 5 seconds. But he was lucky, because he came into the pits when the leaders came in, after the safety car that came out when Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) abandoned. It was the ideal moment to wait for those 5 seconds and at that very moment change the tyres. So it was. He got back on track and finished third. But after a complaint from Mercedes, they gave him an extra 10 seconds because the FIA ​​deemed the team had touched the car prematurely. Alonso’s fury was total, because the FIA ​​took forever. But three hours later, the entity backed off and reinstated third place because “It was not clear that the hydraulic jack had been operated on the machine”. An asshole.

Obviously the other protagonist on Sunday was Verstappen, the Dutch car that didn’t leave happy. “The team was happy because I returned to second place. But I’m not happy because I’m not here to be second”, said the two-time world champion succinctly, as superb as he is brutal as a driver. Winning is in his essence and it was made very clear by what he did in Saudi Arabia.

Verstappen started from 15th position after the poor performance of his Red Bull in qualifying. But the driver and that car with the perfect combination and the Dutchman has disposed of all his rivals as stakes. He couldn’t get to Perez because he kept asking if there was a problem that he felt but the team couldn’t verify.

Then came a key moment. The team suggested the Mexican to go at a slower pace. And Pérez then asked if Verstappen would do the same. Checo was planted against Red Bull. The Mexican insisted so much that the team backed off and the Latino was on course for his fifth Formula 1 win.

Mercedes, with George Russell fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth, came out with boosted confidence. Ferrari, on the other hand, had a terrifying Sunday: Carlos Sainz is sixth and Charles Leclerc seventh. The Monegasque summed up his frustration with an insult on the radio and a message to the team: “I don’t know what else to do with this car.”