The Red Bull driver kick started his title defence by winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last night in a tight race.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen wins the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in style
Verstappen won the race in the final lap after overtaking Charles Leclerc of Team Ferrari. Leclerc who started the season at a high tempo by winning the Bahrain GP did great in Jeddah by winning the qualifiers and the same continued in the grid race. He led in the race from the start until the final lap when Max took him down. He was the favorite to win but Verstappen proved that ‘Red Bull gives you wings’. Carlos Sainz of Ferrari completed the podium places after finishing third. Another Red Bull driver Sergio Perez took the fourth place. The experienced and popular Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton disappointed his fans after he finished tenth in the grid.
With this win the current world F1 champion has the same number of F1 victories as 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen both with 21 wins.
Talking to sky sports after the race Max said “It was a tough and crazy race today. I had a lot of fun battling with Charles again. I really enjoyed it and it’s not easy to get past him. We were battling hard at the front. It was tough. I’m really happy we’ve finally kick started the season.”
Leclerc said ” It was hard but fair. Every race should be like this.”
After the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds the Ferraris top the driver standings with Leclerc at top with 45 points while Sainz come second with 33 points. Verstappen is third with 25 points. Two drivers from Mercedes Russell and Hamilton complete the top five with 22 and 16 points respectively.
The next round of 2022 F1 Grand Prix heads to Australia.
