Saudi Arabia – Max Verstappen wins by a breath in front of Charles Leclerc

After the misfortunes of Bahrain and the retirement in the last five laps, it's time for the joys of champagne (without alcohol!) for Max Verstappen. At the end of a superb fight with Charles Leclerc in the last ten loops of the Grand Prix, the Dutchman ended up having the last word by winning by only half a second in front of the Monegasque. Third, Carlos Sainz completes the podium for Ferrari.

The Dutchman went for his victory with forceps, as he likes to do. Staying at a good distance from the Monegasque throughout the race, the Batavian began to put pressure on ten laps from the goal. Several times he tried to pass. The first attempt into the final corner was unsuccessful, with Leclerc taking back control on the long start-finish straight. But perfectly exiting the last turn before starting the 47th loop, the Dutchman dropped off the Ferrari driver and headed towards his first success of the year.

Superbly started from pole position – his first career in 215 Grands Prix – Sergio Perez was one of the great unfortunates of the day. While he managed his start to the race perfectly, Red Bull was fooled by Ferrari's bluff. At the end of the 15th lap, when Charles Leclerc's engineer told his driver to return, the Mexican and Red Bull anticipated and returned before, the Monegasque obviously opting for the opposite option. 

A few seconds later, an accident Nicholas latifi (Williams) was going to give the safety car its only lap. Leclerc, Verstappen, Sainz and the whole horde would take advantage of this to make their only pit stop of the race, and overtake the Mexican who had dropped back to 4th place. This therefore allowed Leclerc to take control. The Monegasque, smart as a monkey, took care of his Safety Car restart perfectly by literally locking Verstappen in the last corner.

The end of the race was first marked by the simultaneous abandonments of Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) fifteen laps from the goal. The following ? It was the Homeric battle between Leclerc and Verstappen, to the advantage of the Dutchman. On the French side, Esteban Ocon (Alpine) finished in sixth position, after being involved in a big fight on track with his Spanish teammate at the start of the race. His compatriot Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) finished in 8th position, while Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) gleaned the point for the tenth.