Perez overcame an assault from Alonso at first, a nervy Safety Car interval and Verstappen’s cost from the midfield to make up for the potential win he misplaced on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit a 12 months in the past – kick-starting his championship hopes within the course of.
Verstappen progressed to P2 rapidly however finally needed to settle for defeat to Perez. The reigning world champion managed further driveshaft issues late within the race after the identical part failed throughout qualifying.
Alonso took the lead into Turn 1, however a subsequent time penalty for lining up outdoors his grid field, coupled with the relentless tempo of the Red Bulls, meant he needed to accept third place.
However, Alonso’s rear jack mechanic was later judged to have touched the automotive earlier than his penalty had been served, the Spaniard receiving an additional 10-second penalty after the race that dropped him to P4. Upon reviewing the choice, nevertheless, the stewards later dominated that Alonso’s P3 would stand, reversing the ruling and dropping Russell again to P4 – Alonso changing into simply the sixth driver to earn 100 F1 podiums within the course of.
Mercedes and Ferrari had no solutions for Red Bull’s tempo as they distantly adopted in two-by-two formation, Russell getting the higher of teammate Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz main Charles Leclerc dwelling.
Leclerc was additionally tasked with a race-day restoration after his pre-race grid penalty. Still, seventh represented a a lot smaller reward than Verstappen’s second-place end, and the Monegasque couldn’t include his frustration over the radio.
Alpine loved a a lot stronger second spherical as Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly collected factors in P8 and P9, respectively. At the identical time, Haas’s Kevin Magnussen and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda went wheel-to-wheel over the ultimate level – the Dane popping out on high with a late transfer.
Nico Hulkenberg took twelfth within the sister Haas, because the Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu beat rookie drivers Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri), Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Logan Sargeant (Williams) to P13.
McLaren endured one other powerful day on the workplace after early entrance wing adjustments for Piastri, who clashed with Gasly at first, and Lando Norris, who hit the particles, consigned them to evenings in direction of the again of the pack.
Piastri finally crossed the road in P15 after clearing Sargeant on the ultimate lap, one thing Norris narrowly averted repeating as he settled for seventeenth. Valtteri Bottas the final of the finishers amid obvious technical bother in his Alfa Romeo.
Alex Albon and Lance Stroll had been the 2 retirements from the race; Albon encountered terminal brake issues aboard his Williams, and Stroll was informed to cease his Aston Martin within the early phases, taking him out of the front-running battle.
Attention now turns to the third spherical of the 2023 F1 season in Australia, with Verstappen holding the championship lead over Perez by some extent because of him clocking the quickest lap of the race within the dying moments.
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