Fernando Alonso finished fourth in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Asturian driver crossed the finish line in third place, but a penalty deprived him of his second consecutive podium and the 100th of his career. Alonso received a ten-second penalty at the end of the race for not correctly executing his first penalty, which was caused by misplacing himself on the starting grid.
The Spaniard served the first five-second penalty on lap 19. However, one of his mechanics touched the car with the jack before the penalty time was up. At the end of the race, the FIA investigated the incident and penalized Alonso again, who ceded the third step of the podium to George Russell.
The race saw Red Bull’s crushing dominance, completing another one-two, this time with the positions of their drivers inverted. Perez held off an incredible Max Verstappen, who climbed up thirteen positions but couldn’t catch up with his teammate.
The Mexican driver achieved his first victory of the season, the fifth of his career, and sent a warning to Mad Max. Right now, the two are almost equal in the rankings, with only one point separating them: the one awarded to Verstappen for setting the fastest lap.
Alonso had a good start, taking the inside line of the first corner and leading the race for a couple of laps. However, he was penalized for positioning incorrectly at the start, and his lead lasted only a few laps. Alonso then used DRS to follow Perez’s wake and increase his distance from his pursuers, which helped him move up the field to fight for the podium.
Most of the field took the opportunity to pit and put on hard tires when a safety car was deployed after Lance Stroll’s car stopped due to a reliability problem. Alonso served his initial penalty during the safety car period and was preparing for the fight from behind: a Dutch monster named Max Verstappen, who had climbed up to fourth place by that point.
Once the safety-car period ended, Verstappen overtook Russell and chased Alonso. Fernando knew that it wasn’t his fight and didn’t resist the Dutchman’s phenomenal pace. Halfway through the race, the two Red Bulls were leading, and the battle between teammates for the victory was on.
Red Bull’s superiority was evident in the race, and their difference from the rest of the field was even more noticeable in Saudi Arabia. Verstappen pushed his teammate but couldn’t reduce the four-second gap between them. With less than ten laps to go, Verstappen reported a new problem that, fortunately, turned out to be a scare. Nevertheless, it forced him to back off, securing Perez’s win and giving Red Bull another one-two finish.