The 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024) was a Formula One motor race held on 9 March 2024 at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The race was the second round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship.
Max Verstappen won the race from pole position, taking his 100th podium, his ninth victory in a row, and his second victory of the season. This race saw the Grand Prix debut of Formula 2 driver Oliver Bearman, who substituted for Carlos Sainz Jr. at Ferrari. Bearman finished in seventh place scoring his first points in Formula One.
Background The event was held across 7–9 March. It was the second round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship and the fourth running of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Grand Prix was scheduled for a Saturday to accommodate Ramadan, which began on 10 March.
Championship standings before the race Going into the weekend, Max Verstappen led the Drivers' Championship with 26 points, 8 points from his teammate Sergio Pérez in second, and 11 from Carlos Sainz Jr. in third. Red Bull Racing led the Constructors' Championship over Ferrari by 17 points, and Mercedes by 28 points.
Entrants
The drivers and teams were initially the same as the season entry list. However, Ferrari reserve and Formula 2 driver Oliver Bearman replaced Carlos Sainz Jr. starting from the third free practice session, after Sainz was diagnosed with appendicitis and withdrew from the event to undergo surgery. Bearman made his Formula One debut.
Tyre choices
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C2, C3, and C4 tyre compounds (the middle three in their range) designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.
Practice Three free practice sessions were held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 7 March 2024, at 16:30 local time (UTC+3), and was topped by Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing ahead of Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Verstappen's teammate Sergio Pérez. The second free practice session was held on the same day and was scheduled at 20:00 local time, but was delayed by ten minutes as bolts were checked on drain covers in the pit lane. The session was topped by Alonso ahead of George Russell of Mercedes and Verstappen. The third free practice session was held on 8 March 2024, at 16:30 local time, and was topped by Verstappen ahead of Charles Leclerc of Ferrari and Verstappen's teammate Pérez. The session was red-flagged after Sauber's Zhou Guanyu lost control of his car and crashed into the barriers, but was resumed after necessary repairs to the barriers were carried out.
Qualifying Qualifying was held on 8 March 2024, at 20:00 local time (UTC+3).
Qualifying classification DriverConstructorQ1Q2Q311 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:28.1711:28.0331:27.4721216 Charles LeclercFerrari1:28.318 1:28.112 1:27.791 2311 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:28.638 1:28.467 1:27.807 3414 Fernando Alonso 1:28.706 1:28.122 1:27.846 4581 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1:28.755 1:28.343 1:28.089 564 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes 1:28.805 1:28.479 1:28.132 6763 George RussellMercedes1:28.749 1:28.448 1:28.316 7844 Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:28.994 1:28.606 1:28.460 8922 Yuki TsunodaRB-Honda RBPT 1:28.988 1:28.564 1:28.547 91018 Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 1:28.250 1:28.578 1:28.572 101138 Oliver BearmanFerrari1:28.984 1:28.642 N/A111223 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes 1:29.107 1:28.980 N/A121320Haas-Ferrari1:29.069 1:29.020 N/A13143 Daniel RicciardoRB-Honda RBPT 1:29.065 1:29.025 N/A141527Haas-Ferrari 1:29.055 No timeN/A151677 Valtteri BottasKick Sauber-Ferrari1:29.179 N/AN/A161731 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault 1:29.475 N/AN/A171810 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault 1:29.479 N/AN/A18192 Logan SargeantWilliams-Mercedes 1:29.526 N/AN/A19107% time: 1:34.342—24 Zhou GuanyuKick Sauber-Ferrari No timeN/AN/A20Source: Notes – Zhou Guanyu failed to set a time during qualifying. He was permitted to race at the stewards' discretion.
Race The race was held on 9 March 2024, at 20:00 local time (UTC+3), and was run for 50 laps.
Race report At the starting grid, Norris appeared to jump the start but the stewards did not issue any penalty as the FIA's standardised grid box transponder did not detect an infringement. The sporting regulations require these transponders to detect an infringement for a penalty to be issued. There were two retirements. Before the race, on the formation lap, Pierre Gasly reported gearbox issues which forced him to retire before the start of the race. Lance Stroll retired on lap 7 due to a crash at Turn 23 which brought out a safety car. Kevin Magnussen of Haas accumulated 20 seconds worth of penalties. One of these was a 10-second penalty for a collision with Alexander Albon, and the other 10-second penalty was for overtaking Yuki Tsunoda off-track. Knowing that he was unlikely to finish in the points, the team ordered him to focus on defense during the wide parts of the circuit, and drive as slowly as possible in the narrow parts of the circuit while overtaking is most difficult. With Magnussen backing up the drivers behind, teammate Nico Hülkenberg successfully finished tenth and earned his and Haas's first point of the season.
Polesitter Max Verstappen won the race ahead of teammate Sergio Pérez, marking a second straight 12 for Red Bull Racing, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in third with one extra point for the fastest lap. This marked Verstappen's 100th career podium. McLaren's Oscar Piastri finished fourth with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso in fifth. Mercedes's George Russell finished sixth with Ferrari debutant Oliver Bearman in seventh. They were followed by Lando Norris, who briefly led the Grand Prix, in eighth, and Lewis Hamilton in ninth, after both drivers attempted an alternate tyre strategy. Nico Hülkenberg claimed the final point in tenth, clinching his and Haas's first point of the season.
Race classification DriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredPoints11 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT50 1:20:43.273 125211 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT50 +13.643318316 Charles LeclercFerrari50 +18.639216481 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes50 +32.007512514 Fernando Alonso50 +35.759410663 George RussellMercedes50 +39.93678738 Oliver BearmanFerrari50 +42.67911684 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes50 +45.70864944 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes50 +47.391821027 Nico HülkenbergHaas-Ferrari50 +1:16.9961511123 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes50 +1:28.354121220Haas-Ferrari50 +1:45.737131331 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault49 +1 lap17142 Logan SargeantWilliams-Mercedes49 +1 lap19 1522 Yuki TsunodaRB-Honda RBPT49 +1 lap9163 Daniel RicciardoRB-Honda RBPT49 +1 lap141777 Valtteri BottasKick Sauber-Ferrari49 +1 lap161824 Zhou GuanyuKick Sauber-Ferrari49 +1 lap20 18 Lance Stroll5 Accident10 10 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault1 Gearbox18Fastest lap: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 1:31.632 (lap 50)Source: Notes – Sergio Pérez received a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release. His final position was not affected by the penalty. – Includes one point for fastest lap. – Kevin Magnussen finished 11th, but received two ten-second time penalties. The first was for causing a collision with Alexander Albon, and the second was for leaving the track and gaining an advantage while overtaking Yuki Tsunoda. – Yuki Tsunoda finished 14th on track, but received a post-race five-second time penalty for an unsafe release.
Championship standings after the race
The result enabled Verstappen to extend his lead in the Drivers' Championship to 15 points over teammate Pérez, while Leclerc moved up to third in the standings with 28 points. Sainz, who finished third at the season opener in Bahrain, dropped down to sixth in the standings behind George Russell (18 points) and Oscar Piastri (16 points) following his non-participation in Saudi Arabia. In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull moved to 87 points, extending their lead to 38 points over second-placed Ferrari, while McLaren advanced to third in the standings with 28 points, ahead of Mercedes that dropped down to fourth.
Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points1 Max Verstappen512 Sergio Pérez36 13 Charles Leclerc28 14 George Russell18 35 Oscar Piastri16Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Constructor Points1 Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT872 Ferrari49 13 McLaren-Mercedes28 1426513Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
See also 2024 Jeddah Formula 2 round
References
External links