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00:00112 days have passed since we were last here for a race for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
00:06In 2021, it was the penultimate race of the season. In 2022, it's round two.
00:12Welcome then to Jeddah. 50 laps ahead of us around this 3.83 mile circuit, 27 corners,
00:1916 to the left and 11 to the right. More corners on this track than any other circuit on the Formula
00:25One calendar. This was Mick Schumacher yesterday. Now, he was taken to hospital for a precautionary
00:31scan after a 170 mile an hour high-speed crash. He emerged absolutely fine. He's been talking
00:37in the paddock before the race and he's in very good spirits indeed. But the Haas team have decided
00:43that he won't run in the race purely because if he has another accident, they might not have enough
00:48spares to go racing in Australia in two weeks' time. It's the first official poll for Sergio Perez
01:05since his GP2 days at Valencia in 2010. How's he going to fare? Here we are in Jeddah then. It's lights
01:12out and away we go. Perez does get away well, comes over to cover off Leclerc. Carlos Sainz is
01:17forced to the outside. Max Verstappen getting keen on the inside with Carlos Sainz, but Perez leads
01:22them through the first corner. From Leclerc, Verstappen getting past Carlos Sainz. Hamilton ahead of
01:26the fast starting Williams. It's Perez now, ahead of Charles Leclerc. Then comes Max Verstappen. Sainz,
01:32Esteban Aucoin, George Russell and Fernando Alonso and the other Alpine getting detached to the back.
01:37It's Joe Guanyu. There goes Kevin Magnussen battling away with Pierre Gasly through Turn 8.
01:43That was very close indeed for Sergio Perez. Job well done. He's gone away at the start and he's
01:48stretching his lead. Let's see the start then. Perez getting a great launch and covering off the
01:53Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. That then pushed. Carlos Sainz out to the outside and Verstappen doesn't
01:58need a second invitation. Yeah, Carlos got such a good start that it's actually put him into a tricky
02:02position through Turn 1. Trying to get around the outside of his teammate and Max Opendoor
02:06went for it. You can see how Sainz just got left a little bit vulnerable there by his teammate who
02:13had to get out of the way at Perez. Yeah, he did and it's sometimes the problem when you get such a
02:18good start you think oh I can have a go here but he put himself on the wrong side of his teammate
02:21and Max jumped through. This is Joe Guanyu. He said public in. Yeah, it didn't sound very good. It sounded like
02:29he was on kind of the limiter when he pulled away and then it sounds like he's gone into an anti-stall as well.
02:33And he made contact with Daniel Ricciardo which is why Ricciardo got a little bit closer to Lance Stroll
02:38than I'm sure he would have wanted. Oh, George Russell down the inside on Esteban Ocon at the
02:45hairpin final corner. George Russell gets the move done. Moves up into fifth place and he'll like to see
02:52that again and again. And he's got DRS down the main straight to try and stay ahead of the Alpine who's
02:58fighting back but that extra speed advantage that you get for DRS down the straight here which is
03:03round about 16 kilometers an hour at the end of the straight keeping him ahead. Stroll keeps ahead
03:07of the McLaren of Ricciardo. Norris goes off the track and behind him Pierre Gasly might get quite
03:13interested. And the two Alpines going for it. Fernando Alonso almost in the wall certainly in the dust
03:20and still behind his teammate Esteban Ocon. Yeah, I feel that was a little bit, a bit late that move
03:26by Ocon to move to the inside. He's not taking it easy now. He's going to have another go down the
03:30straight as he's got DRS. So how does Esteban Ocon defend this one? Here comes Fernando Alonso. Ocon
03:36just pushes him a little bit wide this time around. Here we go again. He's definitely a lot closer this
03:41time. Is he just going to go for the outside or dummy him? I wonder why you were grinning. Here we go.
03:46Fernando Alonso gets past Esteban Ocon. Can he make the move stick? Goes deep into the corner. Ocon
03:52is going to fight this back again you know and has to concede as Fernando Alonso just puts the squeeze
03:58on him coming out of turn two. Back on board with the Alpines. Here's Esteban Ocon trying to do to
04:06Fernando Alonso what Alonso did to him. Now Ocon's gone off the track this time around. He's put his
04:11brakes on too late and he's surely going to have to give that place back because he left the track and he
04:16gained an advantage. Just a little bit of an advantage. And he has given that place back but
04:22he's given it back and he's given Valtteri Bottas a great chance to try and get past him. Just manages
04:28to stay ahead of the Alfa Romeo but for one moment, for one moment I think Bottas felt that he could
04:34gain a place. And we still have all 18 runners out there and this I think was the move that Kevin
04:41Magnussen thought he pulled off but just went in too deep. He did and as he turned in you could see
04:45he was still on the brakes and the front inside didn't quite grab but you could see it was locking
04:49a little bit gave him understeer and this was the safest option for him. He didn't want to get it
04:53wrong for the exit of turn two. And has he got that DRS coming down the street? No he hasn't
04:59because Valtteri Bottas right on his tail now has got DRS and Esteban Ocon told to hold
05:06and that might not have been the best decision at that particular moment because Valtteri Bottas is
05:11past him and into turn one he goes. Thanks for the box to overtake. Understood? And I'm just wondering
05:19Charles Leclerc is about 2.2 seconds behind Sergio Perez. Is the undercut on for Ferrari at this stage?
05:26Well we're going to see in a minute. Out come Ferrari, out come Red Bull 2. So Sergio Perez
05:32is going to pit and Charles Leclerc is going to pit. So no, Charles Leclerc is going to carry
05:38on. The Ferrari crew were out ready waiting with a set of tyres for him. Ferrari maybe have called
05:45the bluff here and have forced Red Bull into an earlier stop than they wanted. Basically he was
05:48told to do the opposite of what Checo is doing. And we've got a yellow flag because we've got a Williams
05:55into the barriers and for the second day running that Williams is Nicholas Latifi and this could
06:03change dramatically not just his race but everyone's race because that's going to be a safety car
06:09surely. That's really going to hurt him. It is a virtual safety car. That's going to hurt him because
06:14he was he pitted when everyone was going at full speed and now they're going to pit when he's going
06:18around slowly. So he will probably end up third or fourth after the pit stops. And there's a lot of
06:22debris down there that will need clearing away coming out of the final corner crashing into the wall.
06:28This has been widened since last year's race but yet still Nicholas Latifi has hit it. He's gotten
06:33the power a bit early hasn't he? And the first time I've seen a car struggle with oversteer on an
06:37exit like that. And that's why they're all coming in now as well. Max Verstappen gets out just as the
06:44Ferrari of Leclerc comes in. Sergio Perez is making his way at 40% less speed than he normally would
06:51down the straight. There's the Ferrari coming out, there's the red bull of Max Verstappen coming out
06:57and they're coming out before Sergio Perez can get to that first turn and now we've got the safety car
07:05itself. So Perez pitting at the most unluckiest time that he could possibly pit has now gone from leader
07:12to third and Charles Leclerc inherits the lead of the race by staying out.
07:18He pushed me out. I wish I thought the Ferrari needs to touch this. No, I think I wish I had
07:24that the safety car. Okay, yeah, thank you. And I think if the male on the safety car to push up and off
07:30is dangerous. I will shoot up with that. Green flag then. Charles Leclerc is holding it a bit before he can
07:37blast down the main straight and try and break the toe somewhat. And he's already got a very good job
07:43on Max Verstappen. Carlos Sainz is right behind Sergio Perez. As down in the turn one we go. Leclerc leads
07:49Verstappen. Perez leads Carlos Sainz. Down the inside goes George Russell on Kevin Magnussen. Russell's
07:55pulled off a brilliant move on the half of Kevin Magnussen and George Russell makes his way up into fifth
08:00place. Then comes Lewis Hamilton under pressure from Fernando Alonso. Leclerc with Verstappen sticking
08:06to him rather well. Continues to lead this race. Behind Hamilton has fended off Fernando Alonso.
08:12Stays in seventh. George Russell up to fifth. Leclerc still leads. Yeah and as you can see Perez is
08:17actually in fourth now. Checo we need to give up the position to Sainz after the lead start.
08:22Checo let him go and conceded that place before the stewards had to take any action whatsoever.
08:29It's like Kevin really lifted off early into that last corner to get the DRS. But
08:34good thinking if that was the case. Yeah drivers learning all the time. That was a very big difference
08:39in speed when the Mercedes hasn't been so strong in a straight line. Well either way Magnussen absolutely
08:45powers down the main straight. Knew that that was an easier overtake. Valtteri Potas trying to get past
08:51Nikhil Hülkenberg down the main straight. And this not quite so easy for Valtteri. Eventually out drags the
08:57Mercedes-powered Aston Martin. Is he going to make the move this time? No. Stays behind him.
09:03Wonder why he's done that gents. He backed out about it didn't he? You know it's all right. I love this.
09:07I love that they it's a thinking game. It's not just how fast can you drive. You really do have to
09:12think about where you could use that advantage. He's a little bit too far back it seems. Well that's the
09:17trouble. He hasn't got the most powerful engine but that DRS is really helping. And late braking,
09:21going into turn one. Hamilton does get past Kevin Magnussen and this time Magnussen won't have the
09:27benefit of DRS to try and respond. Kevin is making these tyres last a long time. I think physically
09:33he's probably struggling a bit more than Fernando as well. Well there goes Fernando. There was no gap
09:37there to get past into the hairpin but as we've discovered that possibly isn't where you want to
09:42make the overtake tonight. Fernando backed out of that one. He knew he knew what Kevin was trying to do.
09:47He's been over four. He certainly has. Fernando getting a lovely slipstream down the main straight.
09:54Gets ahead of Kevin Magnussen going into turn one. That's a slow moving Fernando Alonso. Is there a
10:03problem? He's looking there as his teammate Esteban Ocon goes past. What is the problem with Fernando
10:10Alonso's Alpine? Otmar Safner on the pit wall has got his head in his hands. This looks like a pretty major
10:16failure. It's also not a place you want to be going slow. There is the team boss down at Alpine. Alonso
10:26was having a terrific race. I have an issue. I got no drive. Okay copy. Yeah I can't I can't accelerate.
10:34Understood. We've got another problem out there and this one is for Daniel Ricciardo and I wonder
10:40if there's an overheating problem here too. Alonso is now rolling and he's got no drive whatsoever.
10:46He's on the dash it says engine kill. He's in the pit lane. That's definitely why it's been closed.
10:52We have a virtual safety car. There is Fernando Alonso's Alpine blending nicely into the background
11:08with all the sponsorship warnings of the company that sponsor the Alpine and that's been pushed
11:14away and the virtual safety car is ending. So they decided not to bunch the field up. It could all be
11:20cleared away with a virtual safety car. Lewis Hamilton has lost his chance to pit behind the
11:26virtual safety car. So he's going to lose as the green flag is out. The track is clear and we can go
11:31racing again. Hamilton's lost the chance to pit under it. We'll be coming in as soon as that pit entry is open.
11:37And they need to because he's the one driver in this race that hasn't pitted yet. Hamilton is going to get
11:45round about nine laps on a new set of tyres to end off this race.
11:52They say they love this sort of scrap. Well, let's see who comes out on top. Verstappen's got DRS.
11:56He's going to try and go around the outside of Charles Leclerc. He does! Max Verstappen takes the lead of the
12:03Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Now, Charles Leclerc is going to have DRS to try and fight it back. Do you
12:08remember when Verstappen did this twice in Bahrain and it didn't pay off? It might be a third time that
12:13Charles Leclerc has proven hanging back is better, but they're almost going will to will. Verstappen moves
12:18across and Charles Leclerc goes deep but holds on to the lead of this race. Now it's a game of chess.
12:28This is going to be interesting. Well, he's got DRS again Verstappen. Can he stave off his natural
12:34instincts as they both lock up? Charles Leclerc goes through ahead and they were both
12:40locking up in dramatic fashion there, but Verstappen has come out worse from that final corner
12:46and even though he's got the DRS, Charles Leclerc has got a bigger advantage out in front than he did have
12:52going into the final hairpin and he stays ahead again. They could have both gone off the track at that
12:57final corner. We can see from the rear wing of Charles Leclerc's Ferrari what Max Verstappen
13:05has to do down the main straight. We can see the Red Bull getting close, but is it going to be close
13:10enough? Verstappen thought for it he was going to go down the inside. Leclerc saw him coming, cover that
13:15off a long way out. Max Verstappen is chasing after Charles Leclerc for the win, for the victory. Verstappen
13:23pointless after the first race. Leclerc is the championship leader. Verstappen on the inside,
13:28this time is just hanging back a little bit. Has patience finally found its way into Max Verstappen's
13:35vocabulary? And is the patience going to pay off here? Because Verstappen has got DRS down the main
13:41straight. Charles Leclerc can't cover it off. Verstappen takes the lead at the Saudi Arabian Grand
13:46Prix and there are many in the grandstands who like that as Leclerc goes too deep into turn two
13:53and cuts the corner. But as he comes out to turn two, he is second. Verstappen leads and it's been
13:59building and building. Can Verstappen now hold off Leclerc? Yeah, Max has learned. That was a great move
14:05and he was really pushing him around that last corner. He wasn't going to give him an inch,
14:09was he, of an advantage coming at that last turn. So a great move by Max and covered him off nicely at
14:15turn one as well. But this is not over. We've, as we've seen with the fights on track today,
14:20they can come back at you and Charles is going to be giving it his all. Here comes Charles Leclerc once
14:25more in the slipstream of that Red Bull and about to give it a go down the main straight. Trust me,
14:31this race is not over yet. Verstappen has not got it done yet, but it's a double yellow in sector two
14:38that might come to Verstappen's aid. Green flag though, as they make their way down the main straight.
14:43Leclerc behind Verstappen and there are yellow flags. That's safe Max Verstappen right there.
14:50Slow moving Williams of Alex Albon, he's been in a collision with Lance Stroll.
14:56Going into turn one, DRS for Albon, Stroll turns in.
15:04That's going to be costly for both drivers and both teams.
15:07We are on lap 49 out of 50. If Charles Leclerc is going to make a move now, it might be a very good
15:15time to do it as they power their way down the main straight once again. Can Leclerc get within
15:21touching distance of Max Verstappen? He's got the DRS, he's gaining on Verstappen. This is the view that
15:26Leclerc has got going into turn one and he's a few car lengths behind. So no chance there for Charles Leclerc to get the move done.
15:33There might be one more overtaking spot here on this final lap, Jensen, for Charles Leclerc to snatch victory if he can.
15:41Yes, it's how much you save for the battery as well. You saw that Max was recharging a lot into turn one.
15:46So last corner, this is down to the last corner basically. If he gets DRS, there's every opportunity
15:52he can throw down the inside of Max. Max Verstappen, the current world champion and merging into race two of the season,
15:59and pointless after the disappointment of the retirement in Bahrain. Is he going to bounce back
16:04and take victory in this race? Or is Charles Leclerc going to make it two out of two? He's never won a
16:10race before, but he hasn't started on pole. Max Verstappen thinks Leclerc has gone too fast through the
16:20yellow flags because he can see how much closer the Ferrari is. He can. He's a little bit worried,
16:25he's a little bit on edge, but I think he's got the pace in this last sector, but I don't know,
16:29who knows? He's so close now the Ferrari, six tenths behind. And now you don't need patience because
16:35they're going to be racing to the chequered flag here, and it's not like Verstappen could come back
16:40to Leclerc if Leclerc can't get this move done or can get this move done. Out of the final corner, Max Verstappen emerges in front.
16:49Such a close battle once again, and this time around it's Max Verstappen that wins out. He takes
16:55victory in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and Charles Leclerc comes home in second place. It's a Ferrari
17:03double on the podium as Carlos Sainz manages to take third. Sergio Perez will make it to the
17:10chequered flag in fourth, and victory chances for him cruelly denied by the timing of the safety car
17:16on lap 16. George Russell fifth for Mercedes, and a great performance from George Russell with some
17:22brilliant overtakes. Esteban Ocon sixth, Lando Norris seventh, Gasly, Magnussen, and Hamilton will
17:28complete the top ten. But that is victory for Max Verstappen, and it wasn't by much. Just half a second.
17:34Meanwhile, Lando Norris is having a go into the final hairpin with Esteban Ocon. Can Ocon, who got out,
17:41dragged to the line and missed out on the podium here last year, lose another place right at the last?
17:46Ocon just stays ahead of Lando Norris. He lost down the podium by a tenth of a second. He managed to get
17:54sixth place by a tenth of a second. Boy, was that a bit touch-and-go for Esteban Ocon. Boy, was that a bit
18:02touch-and-go for Max Verstappen. Oh, what a race. I mean, I love that people can fight back. Yeah. You know,
18:08it's not you make the move and you pull away. They can fight back, and that's what's great about Formula
18:13One right now.
18:14Oh! Nice!
18:19That was good. That was good. Okay. 22 has started. Wow, that was close. Wow. Unbelievable. Well done,
18:28Max. Great, great job. I think we sound more excited than them. But it's like they're in a go-kart race.
18:33Yeah. It's like we're stepping back in time ten years, because you don't often see the fighting that the
18:38we're getting here in Formula One at the moment. So, loving the new regs, and congratulations to that
18:43man. What a race. 2022 is goal. It wasn't the start you needed in Bahrain, but this was a brilliant
18:50weekend for you. And some really, really close and respectful racing with Charles. Yeah, I know,
18:55it was really tough, but a good race. I mean, we were battling hard in the front, and we just
19:02tried to play the long game. I mean, they were really quick through corners. We were quick on the straight,
19:06but yeah, the tyres were rearing out quite quick around here. So, you could see at the end,
19:11I think, we had a little bit more pace. So, I just tried to get by. It wasn't easy,
19:15playing smart tricks in the last quarter, but eventually managed to get ahead. But then even
19:20after that, he was constantly in the DRS, and then with the yellow flags in the last lap.
19:25Just knowing how much you should lift, whether it's allowed or not, it was tough, but really happy that
19:31we finally kick-started the season. Just put us in the cockpit with, as you say,
19:35smart tricks running into the DRS. We're just seeing the lock-up. You both locked up going
19:40to where the DRS line is. We can see it on the screen behind you, and then coming on the start,
19:44finish for the pass. You know, this strategy you're having to deploy, this is a new form of racing.
19:49Yeah, it seems like, you know, once you get quite close, because I think the cars, when you get within
19:54half a second, you actually can have a good exit. And I think that makes it a lot more tricky to actually do
20:00the pass, let's say, in the last corner, compared to last year. So it's a lot harder to plan your pass, let's say that.
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