Verstappen secures Saudi Arabia GP win as Bearman takes points on debut
9th March 2024Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen cruised to another F1 career victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix whereas Ferrari’s stand-in Oliver Bearman secured points on debut with a seventh-place finish.
Ahead of the Saudi race, Verstappen was lined up in pole position as he edged out Ferrari rival, Charles Leclerc by 0.3s who started alongside the reigning world champion.
At the same time, it was the debut of Ferrari’s 18-year-old British driver, Oliver Bearman who had to sacrifice a promising Formula 2 weekend to compete in the highest level.
Bearman replaced Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, on Friday, as the Spaniard required surgery for appendicitis and qualified P11.
When the lights went out, Verstappen darted across the track to defend his position from Leclerc heading into T1. From there he remained relatively unchallenged.
The safety car came out on lap seven after an early crash for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who tagged the wall at T22 – breaking his suspension in the process.
From there, there was a panic in the pit lane as the majority of drivers pitted for their mandatory stop. Only McLaren’s Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) and Zhou Guanyu (Kick Sauber) stayed out.
As Norris stayed out, the McLaren became the race leader when the safety car peeled back into the pit lane. However, it didn’t take long before Verstappen regained the race lead, on lap 13.
Verstappen, again, remained fairly unchallenged until the end of the race as he took his 56th career race win with seven seconds in hand over Perez.
Perez managed to hold onto second place, following a five-second time penalty after an unsafe release during the safety car pit stops put him in the path of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. Leclerc rounded out the podium, in P3.
On debut, Bearman secured F1’s driver of the day as he worked his way to secure six points on debut with a seventh-place finish.
Despite being his first race, he maintained his composure when Norris and Hamilton piled on the pressure when they swapped over their worn mediums for the soft tyres, late on in the race.
That’s all for the article; Verstappen secures Saudi Arabia GP win as Bearman takes points on debut!
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Verstappen claims first Saudi Arabian GP pole position by 0.3s
- Verstappen fastest in Saudi Arabia GP FP3 as Bearman makes F1 debut
- Audi to complete full takeover of Sauber in prep for 2026 F1 entry
- Bearman jumps in for Sainz at Saudi Arabian GP after requiring surgery
- 2024 Saudi Arabia GP: Alonso pips Russell and Verstappen in delayed FP2
- Saudi Arabia GP: Verstappen tops FP1 ahead of Alonso and Perez
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
