Saudi Arabia Top 5

The second Grand Prix of the season was an eventful one! It was almost impossible to choose a top five!

Number 1: Penalties, Penalties, Penalties

For two races in a row, the same penalty has been handed out. In Bahrain, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon failed to line up correctly in his start position and now in Saudi Arabia Aston Martin’s Fernando Alsono made the same mistake. This resulted in a five-second penalty to be served during his next pitstop. Alsono got lucky and was able to serve the penalty under a safety car allowing him to maintain a better position than if he had pitted under normal conditions. Following his pitstop, there was debate amongst the officials concerning if the pitstop was served correctly. An answer wouldn’t be given until after the checkered flag had flown.

Number 2: First points for Haas

Haas was able to bring home its first points of the year in Saudi Arabia. This team has been up and down its entire time in F1. 2022 was one of the better seasons for the team but with a driver change for 2023, you never know how it's going to work out. With two veteran drivers representing the team this year, they have a chance to perform well as long as they have a car to back their drivers. They are the sole American team on the grid and as an American, I hope they do well.

Number 3: Championship Points

Team drama is part of what makes this sport so fun and Red Bull did not disappoint during this race. Red Bull is a team known for giving team orders in favor of one driver and this race was no different. During the broadcast, viewers were able to hear the team discussion about driver race pace and Sergio Perez specifically asked if his pace was slower than his teammate Max Verstappen. It’s impossible to ignore this interaction when looking at who took home the point for the fastest lap. Perez might have won the race but Verstappen maintained the lead in the Championship by getting the extra point for the fastest lap. From the outside looking in, it’s clear who the team would prioritize when it comes down to the Championship.

Number 4: The Second Drivers

This might be a big claim but I feel like this race was the race of the second drivers. While this wasn’t the case for every team a lot of the drivers labeled “second drivers” outperformed their lead driver counterparts.

McLaren gave team orders that forced their lead driver Lando Norris to allow rookie Oscar Piastri a chance to pass. In these first two races, the team has not experienced the best results so it was not surprising that they would make a call like this in hopes of getting the best result possible. They were able to gain two places by making this call and while they didn’t earn any championship points, the team still managed a better result than in Bahrain.

Similar to many of the results we saw in 2022, George Russell made it across the line ahead of his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton. With each race, it becomes more and more clear why Mercedes wanted George Russell in their second seat. His performance is consistent and he doesn’t show any sign of giving up despite the car’s performance not being ideal.

2022 was a long year for Ferrari and their problems are not gone in 2023. An early-in-the-season engine penalty forced Charles Leclerc to start the race 10 places down from his qualifying position. Leclerc was able to fight his way into the top ten but not pass his teammate Carlos Sainz.

Over at Alfa Romeo, lead driver Valtteri Bottas experienced some car troubles that forced him into last place, and despite all his skill he was unable to recover. His young teammate Zhou Guanyu was able to maintain a position in the midfield just outside the points. He might not have earned any points for the team but he did put up a good fight in the battle.

The Williams rookie Logan Sargeant came across the line in 16th place which doesn’t seem like the best result at first glance but considering his teammate, Alex Albon, was forced to retire his car, that’s not a bad result.

The big winner when it comes to second drivers was Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. While his teammate might have stolen the extra point for the fastest lap, Perez was the one standing on the top step of the podium. In a season that already feels like it's Verstappen’s to lose, it's nice to see that there is some competition, even if it’s his teammate.

Number 5: Podium Problems

Viewers experienced a bit of deja vu during the podium ceremony with the same three drivers in the top three places for the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The only difference is this week, Sergio Perez took the top spot over his teammate Max Verstappen. The problems surrounding this podium came after the ceremony was finished. The FIA finally made their ruling about Alonso’s penalty from earlier in the race. They ruled that the original penalty was not served correctly resulting in another penalty demoting Alonso to fourth place. This awarded the third-place spot to George Russell. Understandably, Aston Martin appealed this decision and after the trophy had already been passed to Russell the FIA reversed the decision. Alsono was reinstated to third place and the trophy returned.

Two races in the books and now its time to head to Australia!