Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian GP, Alonso hit with post-race 10sec penalty

Perez is quickest at the end of Q2, just ahead of Alonso. Leclerc is third quickest.

The big shock of the session was Max Verstappen's exit. An engine issue forced him to retire the car from the session. The Red Bull driver was in a class of his own throughout the weekend, and it's unfortunate that it ended this way.

Sergio Perez managed to secure pole position for tomorrow's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Mexican secured the position for the first time in his F1 career in 2022 at the same venue, and repeats the feat for a second consecutive year.

It is the Red Bull driver's second career pole position.

Charles Leclerc managed to put his Ferrari on second, but he will serve a 10-place grid penalty, dropping him to 12th for the race. This will promote Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso from third to second.

Perez's teammate, Max Verstappen, had to retire from qualifying after suffering from in engine issue. He will start down in 15th place, provided he is not taking any further penalties.

Lap 10/50: Perez extends his advantage over Alonso to one second. They are almost six seconds clear of Russell in third.

Verstappen is gradually making his way up the grid, now up into 10th having started in 15th. He is chasing down Hamilton (9th) and Leclerc (8th).

Lap 16/50: Perez leads by 5 seconds over Alonso. Russell is still in 3rd, with Leclerc and Verstappen behind.

Verstappen trails Leclerc by 0.8sec and could go ahead on Lap 17.

Leclerc pits to replace his Soft tyres and he is back out on the Hard.

Lap 25/50: Verstappen is up into second place, now chasing down Perez who is 5.5 seconds up the road. Alonso is third.

The two Mercedes of Russell and Hamilton are 4th and 5th, with Sainz (6th) and Leclerc (7th) behind for Ferrari. Ocon and Gasly are next for Alpine, with Tsunoda completing the top 10 in his AlphaTauri.

Sergio Perez has done enough to secure victory in the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Mexican driver started the race from pole position, but lost the lead to Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso. But a few laps into the race, the Red Bull pilot retook the position and never gave it up.

His teammate, Max Verstappen, started the race in 15th place after a mechanical issue impacted his qualifying. Still, it wasn’t long before he found himself in a podium position and eventually settling for second behind his teammate.

Alonso finished in third place, but risked losing the position after incurring a post-race five-second penalty. Fortunately, he managed to stay 5.1 seconds ahead of Mercedes' George Russell, securing the position.

The position was Alonso's 100th podium finish in Formula 1.

Top 10:

1. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

3. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

4. George Russell, Mercedes

5. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

6. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

7. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

8. Esteban Ocon, Alpine

9. Pierre Gasly, Alpine

10. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

Red Bull dominated the second Formula 1 Grand Prix of the season in Jeddah on Sunday as Sergio Perez, who started from pole position, won, while teammate Max Verstappen charged through the field from 15th to finish second.

Two-time champion Fernando Alonso, who started on the front row but was hit with a five-second penalty during the race, finished a distant third in his Aston Martin. He was closely followed by the Mercedes pair George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

The Red Bull pair reversed their finishing positions in the season-opening Bahrain GP. Verstappen, who was halted by mechanical problems in qualifying, held on to the championship lead by picking up an extra point for driving the fastest circuit of the race in his 50th and last lap.

- AFP

BREAKING: Fernando Alonso stripped of third place, with Mercedes' George Russell promoted into the position with Alonso dropping to fourth.

Alonso was penalised for not being in the correct position when the race started and was handed a five-second penalty for it. He served it during his pitstop, but Race Control found the Aston Martin team guilty of touching Alonso's car in the five seconds the car was stationary.

After the podium celebrations, Race Control confirmed that Alonso has been hit with a 10-sec post-race time penalty.