March 12, 2024
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| thepodiumfinish.net |
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix had us on our toes with illness, crashes, and one 20-second penalty. Here is your 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Weekend Recap:
Baby Bearman makes his debut!
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| Ollie Bearman made his F1 debut this weekend newstribune.com |
This weekend was definitely one to remember for 18-year old Ollie Bearman as made his F1 debut. On Thursday night, Carlos Sainz was diagnosed with appendicitis and taken into surgery for a “smooth operation.” Bearman was called up from F2 to fill in for the weekend, meaning he would have just one practice session to figure out the car and prepare for his debut.
Qualifying: March 8, 2024
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Q1:
Ollie Bearman jumped straight into his first F1 qualifying session as he drove through the tight corners of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit like a pro.
Eliminated: Bottas (P16), Ocon (P17), Gasly (P18), Sargeant (P19), Zhou (P20)
Zhou Guanyu had a crash in FP3 that caused damages the team were still repairing during Qualifying. In an incredible feat, they got the car back out on track before the end of Q1 but Zhou couldn’t start his flying lap in time.
Q2:
Eliminated: Bearman (P11), Albon (P12), Magnussen (P13), Ricciardo (P14), Hulkenberg (P15)
In a testament to his impressive talent, Bearman missed Q3 by a mere three-hundredths of a second.
Nico Hulkenberg brought out a red flag after he lost power during Q2 and had to pull over to the side of the track.
Q3:
Max Verstappen secured his first Saudi Arabian pole position ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in P2. These two drivers have lined up next to each other in the last five races. What a crazy co-“inchident”!
My McLarens made progress from last weekend but still stuck together as they went P5 and P6.
Yuki Tsunoda outqualified teammate Daniel Ricciardo for the second weekend in a row by placing P9.
Race: March 9, 2024
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| @JaswanthReddit reddit |
When the tire blankets came off on Saturday night, it was clear most drivers were opting for the one-stop strategy. All of the drivers, except for Bottas and Bearman who went with softs, had medium compound tires bolted on.
Pierre Gasly reported a gearbox issue on the formation lap and retired from the race by the end of Lap 1. I wonder who Alpine is going to fire for that misfortune.
Verstappen had a clean getaway at the start and instantly began to extend his lead. Leclerc, in P2, had more of a slow start and had to defend against Perez to keep his second place. Unfortunately for the Monagasque, Perez would take P2 a few laps later. Further back, Oscar Piastri got himself up to P4 by the end of Lap 1 while his teammate struggled to make up the positions he lost by jumping the start.
Everything was relatively calm until Lap 7, when Lance Stroll crashed into the barriers and brought out a Safety Car. This prompted all drivers except for Norris, Hamilton, Zhou, and Hulkenberg to pit for hards and try to make it to the end of the race. More than this sudden change in tire strategy, I was excited to see Ferrari successfully double stack their cars. Maybe they have improved.
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| Stroll crashed into the barriers on Lap 7 sportskeeda.com |
The Safety Car came in around Lap 9 with Lando Norris leading the race. Norris managed to keep Verstappen behind for a few laps before the Dutchman was able to reclaim the lead on Lap 12. The restart also saw Bearman finally overtake Tsunoda for P11 while Magnussen was hit with a 10-second penalty for making contact with Albon in a scrap for P13.
Magnussen was then given another 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage over Tsunoda. At this point, Magnussen didn’t stand a chance at scoring points so he began to play the team game to help Hulkenberg. KMag became an absolute menace as he expertly used the corners to bunch up the cars behind him and then pull ahead in the straights to keep position. This created a large enough margin to Hulkenberg’s P10 to allow him to pit without losing too many positions on Lap 34. Hulkenberg came out in P11 behind the yet-to-pit Zhou.
Piastri was chasing Hamilton down for P5 for quite some time. The Australian stayed within DRS range but was never able to maintain the straight-line speed he needed to make a move stick. Piastri was finally set free around Lap 37, when Hamilton finally pitted for hards.
Norris, who had been dropping down the grid, quickly responded to Hamilton with his own pitstop on the following lap, coming out in P9 – behind Bearman and ahead of Hamilton. It was now up to Bearman to keep his position and score a whopping 6 points on debut. The rookie put in his fastest laps of the race as he fought to stay ahead of Norris, who was managing his own battle with Hamilton.
Zhou finally pitted on Lap 43 but suffered a slow stop and came out in last place. This is the second weekend that Sauber have had a slow pit stop ruin their race. Whether they changed their pit crew this season or the car is just different, they definitely need to figure that out.
Max Verstappen ultimately won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with a 13 second lead. His teammate Sergio Perez made it a Red Bull 1-2 despite his 5-second penalty for an unsafe release in the pit lane. A very pleased Charles Leclerc completed the podium as Ferrari solidified their position as a second place constructor.
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| 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Podium reuters.com |
Oscar Piastri finished in an impressive P4 ahead of Alonso and Russell. Ollie Bearman had a dream debut with his P7 and 6 points, while Norris, Hamilton, and Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten. The Williams, RBs, Saubers, Magnussen, and Ocon made up the rest of the positions ahead of our two retirees.
The biggest story of this weekend was Ollie Bearman. In a year where the driver market is so dense, he really made the most of this opportunity. Bearman had one practice session before he was competing in that Ferrari, and while he may not have been Carlos Sainz, he did an incredible job for his first race. I have been saying it for a while, but I won’t be surprised if we see Bearman on the grid next year.
I will be back in a week for the Australian Grand Prix!
- Divya
Where I got these
from:
https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2024/races/1230/saudi-arabia/qualifying.html
https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/39682681/ferraris-sainz-miss-saudi-arabian-gp-appendicitis
https://formula1.com/en/results.html/2024/races/1230/saudi-arabia/race-result.html
https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2024/races/1230/saudi-arabia/race-result.html