Verstappen Wins Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz Finishes Third

Max Verstappen (Instagram @maxverstappen1)

JAKARTA - Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen overtook his Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc on the final four laps of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix finish on Sunday to claim his first win of the season.

The Red Bull driver started from P4 and touched the finish line 0.5 seconds ahead of Leclerc, who maintains the lead in the drivers' standings following victory in last week's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Respect 🤜💥🤛

Love to see it @Charles_Leclerc and @Max33Verstappen! #SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/1qn7kNFByZ

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 27, 2022

Quoted from Antara, Monday, April 28, Carlos Sainz's second Ferrari car completed the podium after finishing third.

The victory marked the 21st time in Verstappen's career and also provided the Dutch rider with the first points of the season following the failure of two Red Bull cars to finish in Bahrain.

His team mate, Sergio Perez failed to convert his first pole position into victory and had to settle for finishing P4 after the Mexican driver's strategy was thwarted by the safety car.

George Russell claimed P5 for Mercedes who are still struggling this season ahead of Alpine team driver Esteban Ocon, who knocked McLaren's Lando Norris to P6 by a 0.1 second margin.

Lewis Hamilton, champion of the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah last year, claimed the last point remaining by finishing P10 after starting the race from 15th.