Martin Brundle on the results of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Former Formula 1 driver, Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle summed up the results of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix…

In Jeddah, Red Bull Racing completely dominated. To be honest, when Max Verstappen started having problems with the drive in qualifying and it became clear that he would only start 15th, I was even delighted and looking forward to an interesting race. I have nothing against Max and his incredible talent, but I wanted to see the fight.

Ferrari was surprised by a penalty for replacing elements of the power plant on Leclerc’s car as early as the second Grand Prix of 23. He started 12th, which also caused intrigue.

The circuit in Jeddah looks impressive at night and the first part is one of the best in the world, not inferior to Suzuka. Formula 1 cars race at incredible speed and the proximity of the walls further enhances the effect.

As usual in Formula 1, incidents and accidents are starting to push back the walls, smoothing out irregularities and widening the relegation zone. One of the worst examples is the “Wall of Champions” in Montreal and the outer wall on the last corner in Jeddah. This greatly reduces the number of incidents that can be discussed. I’m not saying I want to see more crashes, but I like it when there’s a certain amount of risk that highlights smart and experienced riders and penalizes less accurate riders.

Many would like to see absolutely smooth asphalt with minimal curbs no higher than the paint mark marking them, with minimal risk to riders. But it’s not good for the show. In Jeddah the risk remains due to blind turns and high speed sections.

Sergio Pérez took pole and although he failed on the second fastest lap in the final, there was no Max Verstappen around to take the lead. Charles Leclerc impressed with second place, though he lost ten places to a penalty, and third was Fernando Alonso – now the Spaniard looks so determined you shouldn’t get in his way as he walks around the paddock.

Red Bull’s dominance has put a lot of pressure on many teams and their key personnel, not least Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren. It is rare that many teams are simultaneously looking for ways out of the crisis, they try to hire experienced specialists from other teams and, in turn, protect their own teams, and also look for new ones. Add to that the future team of Audi (now Alfa Romeo), which will have a massive recruitment campaign by 2026.

The drama in the race started even before the lights went out, when Alonso, starting from the front row, stopped the car slightly to the left of the allowed position. Fernando has always liked the lowest possible cockpit position for a lower center of gravity and a better air intake at the top. From the cockpit of the car, he simply couldn’t see the markings.

Leading the race for several laps, Fernando created enough of an advantage over George Russell, who was running third at the time, to immediately offset the five-second penalty imposed on him for inaccurate car positioning.

He succeeded during a pit stop behind the safety car, which was caused by the breakdown of his teammate Lance Stroll’s car. In fact the safety car didn’t have to leave, Lance turned straight into a back-up lane, but the GPS sensor on his car in the race control system showed he was still on track, even though the cameras showed he wasn’t.

Fernando looked like the favorite in the battle for third place on the podium. He had no chance of letting Verstappen break through to the top, which was greatly helped by the safety car. But in the end, the fate of third place was decided in the steward’s room a few hours after the finish.

When the Spaniard was serving a penalty in the pit lane, the rear jack was accidentally put in place, ready to repair the car after five seconds. This was reported to the race control center, presumably by Mercedes, as a rule violation. The question of whether setting up jacks is “working with the machine” was discussed by the teams. Of course, the results of these discussions were different for everyone.

Aston Martin heard about the potential problem from our Sky Sports F1 commentators. We took note of Mercedes engineer George Russell’s comment about staying within five seconds of Fernando, and I remembered being amazed at the placement of the rear jack during the penalty.

Two weeks earlier in Bahrain, Esteban Ocon and Alpine had been fined 10 seconds for violating fines procedure. After the finish in Jeddah, Aston Martin reminded of this by reporting a violation. Fernando added 10 seconds and the third place cup went to George Russell who accepted it with dignity saying that in his opinion Fernando deserved third place.

Then Aston Martin was reminded – as a result of discussions and precedents, it was decided that the jacks should be allowed to touch the car, but not lift it, so the trophy had to be given away, confirming Alonso’s 100th podium in Formula 1. out to be inconvenient, so the rules for the next race will change.

Perez was fast, could not be overtaken by his partner and won the fifth race of his career. Four of those were street circuits and this is his first win as Max finished second.

On the last lap, Max took an extra point from Sergio for the best lap, leaving the Mexican unsatisfied. He was surprised the team didn’t tell his partner to stop fighting when the winning double was guaranteed, and both cars had minor issues.

Verstappen’s men may have been surprised when Pérez was able to match their pace, and annoyed that a car problem prevented Max from qualifying.

In Mercedes, Russell drove a great weekend, once again ahead of Hamilton. Lewis said goodbye to his irreplaceable (as it seemed to me) physiotherapist and confidante Angela Cullen, admitting that he could not find an approach to this machine. He was unable to take advantage of the safety car timing and switching to faster Medium tires as everyone around him was speeding.

Everyone at Mercedes seems very optimistic about the changes that will take place in the coming months. They were already faster than the Ferraris, who lost a lot of speed in the second part of the race after switching to Hard. Yes, the safety car left for the Scuderia at an unfortunate moment, but the Maranello engineers have something to work on.

The Alpine riders looked strong on the fast track, finishing eighth and ninth, although without Stroll’s retirement they would have been one position lower.

The last hard-earned point went to Haas’ Kevin Magnussen after a great fight against Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. Having two experienced drivers now helps Haas F1 a lot.

We saw a spectacular battle between McLaren teammates Piastri and Norris and Sargent from Williams. Yes, I hear you argue that it was a battle for 15th, 16th and 17th, but maybe we need moments like that this season, given Red Bull’s incredible speed, especially with open DRS.

Lando has had a rough start to the season with two 17th-place finishes and he will be desperate to turn things around in Melbourne. Norris has a lot of talent, but Piastri is showing all his qualities now. Shocking last place McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship with zero points, as did the Alpha Tauri.

And so, watching the growing tension between the Red Bull riders, we wait patiently for the rest of the team to add speed. They will have to play a lot.