© Vladimir RysTop Five Moments From Jeddah We’ve put together the Team’s top five highlights from the second race of 2022.
Ourseasonisnowofficiallyupandrunning,followingourfirstwinofthe2022season.AfteradisappointingBahrainGrandPrix,OracleRedBullRacingclaimedfirstandfourthontheJeddahCornicheCircuit.TheSaudiArabianGrandPrixdeliveredanexcitingraceandsomeepicbattles.
We’ve boiled down all the excitement and picked five of our favourite moments from the Jeddah Corniche Circuit and here they are…
Checo Was The Champion Of Qualifying© Vladimir Rys
At the 215th time of asking, Sergio Pérez claimed the first pole position of his career. The Bull is well known for pulling out all the stops on a Sunday, but the Mexican driver went all out in qualifying and put in what he called: “The lap of my life!” Not only did it mean a lot to Checo, but the entire Team and the crowd in the stands loved seeing #11 take that top spot in Q3.
2. MaxGetsInFrontOfSainzInOpeningFewCorners
With the RB18 and season so new, nobody could’ve been 100% sure of what was going to happen off the line. But as lights went out, Max got off to a good start on his medium tyres and showed it’s about the man in the machine when he powered passed his Ferrari rival in the opening first few corners to take P3.
The Team Welcome Checo Over The Line© Vladimir Rys
3. Checo’sGreatStartOffTheLine
Checo made the most of his pole position and got away with the perfect start at lights out. The Bull kept getting faster on the opening laps, and by lap-six he had created a gap of 2.5s between him and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in P2. With that lead and pace Checo was surely in for the win, it was only unfortunate timing of the pit stop and safety car that saw him miss out.
Checo At The Front Of The Pack© Vladimir Rys
With eight laps of the race remaining Max was P2 behind Charles Leclerc and had just activated his DRS towards the end of the lap and attacked. He powered past the Ferrari, but Leclerc hit back straight away to get in front.
A lap later Max tried to overtake again, but with both drivers playing a tactics game, his RB18 locked up under breaking and couldn’t get passed Leclerc.
The following lap and with only five laps remaining, Max tried to make a move stick at turn one, but Leclerc blocked the Bull. However, Max stayed on the rear of the Ferrari and at the end of the lap put his car alongside his rival, which gave him the perfect start for lap 47, where with DRS he pushed his away past Leclerc into the lead.
5. MaxTakesFirstWinOf2022
Once Max had got in front of Leclerc he never looked back, and despite the Ferrari driver attacking he just couldn’t take the lead back from the Bull. So Max was able to power to the chequered flag and claim the win 0.549s ahead of Leclerc, the closest win since the Italian Grand Prix in 2020.
Max Verstappen - Your Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Winner© Vladimir Rys
