With yet another thrilling race, the 2022 season is already shaping up to be another classic season of Formula 1. Defending World Champion Max Verstappen gets his first race win of the season after an intense battle with Ferarri’s Charles Leclerc, and Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari crossed the line P3 to maintain a 100% podium record for the Scuderia this season.
Today at Man’s Life we will take you through the Men who Shined and the Men who left us wanting more from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
MEN WHO SHINED
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After a heartbreaking finish to the Bahrain Grand Prix, Max Verstappen sought redemption at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit as he crossed the line to take P1 and his first win of the 2022 Formula 1 season. Charles Leclerc did not make the job easy for Verstappen as the two fought out for P1 in the final few laps of the race and it was the Red Bull that got better off the Ferrari in this situation. Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz crossed the line P3 to take the final podium spot which means that the Spaniard has been on the podium thrice in his last 3 races. After starting the race on pole, the scrambling of a safety car minutes later after Perez’s pit stop caused him the race to win and hat to settle for a P4 finish. George Russell who was all by himself in the race brought his Mercedes home for a P5 finish ahead of Estab Ocon and Lando Norris in the Alpine and McLaren respectively. Right behind Norris was Pierre Gasly’s Alpha Tauri who picked up their first points of the season ahead of K-MAG who is breaking all expectations in the Haas. Lastly, it was Lewis Hamilton who somehow managed to score a point by finishing P10 after a poor race.
MEN WHO LEFT US WANTING MORE
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One of the biggest surprises from the Saudi Arabian GP was Lewis Hamilton’s poor race performance, the 7 time world champion got knocked out in Q1 for the first time since 2017. If it was the 2021 season, you would’ve seen the Mercedes of Hamilton charging up the field but things are very different in 2022 and he just couldn’t match the pace of other cars on his way. Yuki Tsunoda’s Alpha Tauri reported engine problems and he could not start Sunday’s race and was accompanied by Mick Schumacher who had a nasty crash in qualifying. Nicholas Latifi put his car through the barriers which was the moment that changed the race for others. Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, and Daniel Ricciardo all reported engine problems and had to retire their car. Lastly, it was Alex Albon who could not finish the race after a collision with Lance Stroll that broke the front wing of the Williams.
STANDINGS:
Drivers
This is what the Driver’s championship standing looks like after two race weekends.
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Constructors
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Formula 1 now travels to Australia for the Australian Grand Prix at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit for the first time in over two years and we as fans can’t wait to see what is in store for us!!
[Featured Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool]
Shashank Iyer