SAUDI ARABIA: That red car...

NUMBER TWO

Jeddah. A speedy little street race with a whopping 27 corners.

All eyes are on 1 red car.

Of course, the headline of the Saudi Grand Prix is the removal of Sainz’s appendix. A call down to F2 and 18-year-old Ollie Bearman is lined up in the grid in Sainz’s Ferrari. While his spectating father adorns the red headphones with a look of absolute terror, Bearman cruises round the track and lands himself P7, earning six Championship points and Driver of the Day. Not a bad debut.

There’s nothing like a safety car to inject a bit of drama to a race. Stroll parks his Aston rather abruptly into a wall in Lap 7. This creates a flurry of pit stops. Everyone pits apart from Hamilton, Norris, Zhou and Hülkenberg. Now, I’d be lying if I said tyre strategy was my forte. This is something we must learn together. For now, let’s focus on the subsequent race performance as a whole.

I’m going to draw your attention to 2 teams that caught my eye…

Firstly, McLaren. Last year these guys entered the season with tractors. This year, these cars are QUICK. Their straight-line speed still needs work – DRS is not working its usual magic, but through those high-speed corners they absolutely fly. The young drivers are feisty – Piastri spends most of the race aggressively tailgating Hamilton. At one point Norris actually leads the Grand Prix (I mean Verstappen was having his tyres changed at the time but P1 is P1). With a dodgy jump start and some questionable mid-track weaving, Norris teases race control while retaining top positions even with old tyres. A P4 and P8 finish is a heck of a lot better than P15 and P17 last year.

Secondly, Haas. Teamwork? Between Hülkenberg and Magnussen? Whaaaat? Let’s not get too excited, between them they score 1 point, but it’s a genuine collaborate effort and a sign that this car can move. With 20 seconds worth of penalties, Magnussen’s not exactly looking at podium. But Hülkenberg is sitting on the verge of points. So, Magnussen becomes a heroic nightmare on track. Sitting in front of the likes of Tsunoda, Ocon, Albon and Sargeant, he becomes a barrier preventing midfield from moving up, thus protecting Hülkenberg’s position. He creates such a gap that Hülkenberg is able to pit and then slide straight in front of his teammate to finish P10. Genuinely impressive defending from Magnussen.

Another lengthy pit stop for Sauber, this time 46 seconds for Zhou, seals their fate as they crawl in at P17 and P18. Still, could be worse – Gasly comes on the radio in the formation lap and retires the car before finishing Lap 1. Ricciardo decides he fancies a spot of drifting in the penultimate lap as he’s lapped by Perez, and narrowly avoids a wall before finishing P16.

A busy race for the pit crews.

Oh, and Red Bull finish P1 and P2.