Ahlan, MiniFans! We started the day with some great news, as Sainz walked into the paddock after a successful appendicitis surgery to support his team. The race presented itself as similar to last week’s, where Red Bull was closer to the pack on one lap but would show their pace in the race, specially in a track where they’ve shown to be very quick before.
Mediums were the chosen tyre for most of the grid, only a couple stragglers went for softs, the most notable being Bearman, barely out of the top ten in his debut for Ferrari. The start was clean and Leclerc managed to jump Pérez for second ever so slightly starting to pull away, but it wouldn’t last too long, as he’d concede the position back a couple laps after. Meanwhile, Alonso lost his fourth place to Piastri and Gasly had to retire from problems with his gearbox, not aiding Alpine to claw out of their misery.
The first incident of the race came thanks to Stroll, who clipped the inside wall of a corner and broke the steering of his car, leaving him going straight into a wall, prompting a safety car to retrieve the Aston Martin. As it was right at the beginning of the safety car window for stops, many decided to change their mediums for hards, including both Red Bulls in a very coordinated double stop, Leclerc, Piastri and Alonso at the top, as well as Bearman further back. Norris, however, decided not to, as the amount of cars in front of him in the pitlane could mean a very slow stop, as happened to Alonso and Leclerc.
The restart came with Norris having inherited the lead but being followed so closely by Verstappen that his softer tyres had to work overtime to stay in front. Both Norris and Hamilton, this one in third, could afford to be a bit stricter on their wheels, as they weren’t the ones needing to nurse them to the end, unlike those on hards already. A few notifications from the stewards came through, indicating they were investigating Norris’ incorrect starting position and Pérez’s possible unsafe release, as well as a contact between Magnussen and Albon.
After Verstappen got his race lead back, the result from the investigations came out. Norris’ one warranted no further action from the stewards, but Pérez earned a five-second penalty, adding a bit of spice to the fight for the podium, as did Magnussen for causing a collision. The Mexican driver was swiftly told, so that he could start opening a big enough gap to Leclerc, and easily got past Norris to lock out the top two in Red Bull colours. A bit further back, Piastri kept trying to get past Hamilton, who still had his starting mediums on, and Bearman was stuck behind Hulkenberg as he kept learning the ins and outs of his Ferrari.
As the race neared its halfway point, it had mostly settled, a DS train at the back being the closest to getting overtakes until Leclerc finally reached Norris’ rear wing and got past, climbing up into the third step of the podium, while Piastri was still fully stuck behind a Hamilton whose top speed defeated the Australian’s better pace. The first and only stop of those who hadn’t pitted during the safety car at the beginning of the race kept being pushed back, as they were able to keep up with the rest. Hulkenberg was the pioneer, getting a fresh set of hards before Piastri finally managed to get past Hamilton. However, his happiness was very short lived, as he couldn’t fully stop the car and used the exterior of the track in turn 1, forcing him to give the position back in order not to be penalized, starting the hunt once again and breathing deeply once Hamilton was finally called into the pits for soft tyres less than fifteen laps to the end.
Norris followed in his compatriot’s footsteps, leaving the pitlane right in front of him after a bit of a long stop for also soft tyres. Both were a handful of seconds behind Bearman, who was their target as the started setting fastest laps. They didn’t fight between them, knowing their goal was ahead and that getting in a scuffle would hinder them. A black and white flag came out for Norris for weaving on the straight, a warning not to do it again instead of handing a penalty due to the circumstances.
The last ten laps of the race saw Alonso’s experience keeping up with Russell’s speed, not making it easy for the British driver, as the Spaniard kept interrogating his race engineer about every tiny detail he could think of. Hard tyres were keeping up, and were pretty on pace with the softs that Norris and Hamilton sported, who were catching up to Bearman way slower than expected. Seeing that they would not be able to catch up to the rookie, the fight bloomed between them. The younger Brit managed to stay in front, eyes still set on Bearman despite the gap being too big for the last few laps, their softs not making enough of a difference. At the front, Verstappen and Pérez lapped the rear end of the timing tower, slowly but surely making their way to yet another 1-2 under the checkered flag as Leclerc stole the fastest lap away from everyone else in the last second.
It was yet another Red Bull show in Jeddah, with the tiny struggles that Pérez faced at the start, penalty for an unsafe release included, not phasing them at all. The early safety car offered a bit of a shakeup in strategies, giving the last stint of the race a bit of extra excitement, with Norris and Hamilton hunting the pack in front with soft tyres, which wasn’t quite enough to catch the rookie who had started the weekend as an F2 driver and ended it on the F1 grid, graduating with honours.
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