Marko Hanželic
Po turbulent Saturdays the eyes of the fans were fixed mainly on the start of the race on a narrow but at the same time very fast track. Most racers opted for mid-range tires, only Lando Norris he started with a soft kit and they bet on a hard one Ricciardo, Sainz in Hag.
Unlike the initial crash festival we saw at Formula 2 races, is the (first) start of a Formula 1 race for GP of Saudi Arabia passed without major upheavals. He had to work even harder to preserve the city Max Verstappen, who was breathing down his collar Charles Leclerc, and in the background we also saw some touches, including honey Oconom in Tsunodo. Mercedes managed to defend the first two places (Hamilton before Bottas) and thus had ideal conditions for race control.
If after a few laps in front everything remained as it was in the qualifiers, we saw more action in the background. We saw overtaking Ricciardo, who managed to get before Gasly, and from the background he also broke through after unsuccessful qualifications Carlos Sainz, who managed to overtake his idol from his youth, Fernanda Alonso. Before the latter, he whizzed on the plane again Antonio Giovinazzi.
In the tenth round, he also came to his senses for the first time Bernd Maylander, the driver of the safety car, after landing in the safety fence Mick Schumacher, who was previously in the 22nd turn "Took the ass". The German completely destroyed his own Haas VF21. Both racers took advantage of the safety car phase to stop in the pits Mercedesa, which he also made possible Bottas, who was driving very slowly behind the safety car. Verstappen he remained on the track and thus took the lead.
After two laps behind the safety car Michael Massi hung a red flag, which was of course water on the mill for Red Bull, as it is allowed to change tires with the red flag, and with that it is Verstappen saved a mandatory stop in the pits. Something about the conspiracy was heard on the radio from the Mercedes camp, but it remained with the decision of the commissioners. He also voiced his opinion on the whole matter Lewis Hamilton, who also pointed out the (for him) illogical decision that v Red Bullu they did not wrap up in the pits before the break.
In the fifteenth lap we saw the second start, where he pulled the best from the starting position Lewis Hamilton, and he is Verstappen with a questionable maneuver off the track he overtook in the first chicane, and in front of the Briton he managed to push in Esteban Ocon. It's a little further back Leclerc hit so much Laziness from behind that it rotated the latter, and it is completely behind mazepin missed braking and crashed into the rear at full speed Russell's race car. Chaos all over the place!
It is before the third standing start Max Verstappen had to return the position Lewis Hamilton, Or with, who did it all legally, started from first place. The Frenchman had a solid start, but they were s Hamilton so to speak, aligned before the first bend and quite to the right, which he took advantage of with a daring maneuver Verstappen and broke into the chicane in front of both of them. It's in the next round Hamilton managed to overtake Ozone, Verstappen however, he announced on the radio that he suspected the loss of power of Honda's power unit.
There was no need to wait long for the next incident, as he is in the 23rd round after a duel with Vettel in the enclosure also ended Yuki tsunoda, which, however, succeeded without a front wing "Whisper" to the pits, where they installed a new nose for him. This time it was enough to clean the track virtual version safety car.
A duel of veterans and former teammates, Räikkönen in Vettel, also ended up with some damage as the Finn drove the front left wheel into the radiator of the Vettl race car, which again meant the virtual safety car phase as the particles Aston Martin lying everywhere along the path.
Hamilton came in in the 37th round Verstapp's DRS window and attacked at the end of the start-finish plane, but the Dutchman again went very to the knife and defended the position. Again, it was all reminiscent of a maneuver in Interlagos. In the next round, however, we saw a really strange situation where Verstappen suddenly slowed down, Hamilton however, he was no longer able to avoid the collision and hit the rear of the Dutchman's car with the front wing, slightly injuring him. The official explanation is that Verstappen wanted to regain the place he had gained by driving off the track.
With that, however, the duel was far from over, as it is Verstappen for so to speak "Nose tip" lowered Hamilton continued to evade punishment but then immediately overtook him, and a few moments later the commissioners decided to award him five seconds penalty due to the already mentioned overtaking in the first turn.
It's a round later Hamilton overtook one way or another Verstappen and started to increase the advantage over him and won without any problems, but he also got an extra point for the fastest lap in the race. It's for third place Bottas on the target plane itself overtook Ozone, and after the Frenchman, they came to points Ricciardo, Gasly, Sainz, Leclerc, Giovinazzi in Norris.
Before the last race of the season, both protagonists for the title of champion are completely aligned. The commissioners are still debating whether either of them will get a penalty, as they are both in the game. So a really interesting final of the championship awaits us. If both v Abu Dhabi enter zero, will be the champion Verstappenbecause he has more wins this year.
GP of Saudi Arabia, race - results:
