Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen has come out on top, winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, beating Charles Leclerc by half a second.

Verstappen says “it was a really tough race but good race. Runner-up Leclerc criticised his efforts saying “it wasn’t enough today” but says he really enjoyed that race. Verstappen raced against Charles Leclerc, only days after the round was nearly cancelled in response to a nearby missile strike.

Formula One champion Max Verstappen roared past Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc four laps from the finish to snatch a last-gasp first win of the season at Su.

Verstappen is 20 points behind Leclerc in third. The German was fit to race following a qualifying crash but his Haas team withdrew his car to save parts. But a virtual safety car in the closing laps brought the race to life.

Max Verstappen has stated that all drivers will speak with F1 regarding the future of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix following a controversial weekend.

So yeah, a lot happier on the hard tyre in general with degradation." "Then of course, that VSC happens so the tyres also cooled down quite a bit. "About the race here, well, we had a lot of guarantees that of course, we would be safe," said Verstappen.

Formula One world champion Max Verstappen scored his first points of the season in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

There seems to be so little to choose between the two of us," said Red Bull technical head Adrian Newey. Only the headline has been changed. Verstappen was behind Leclerc in the final 10 laps at Jeddah's Corniche circuit but had a DRS (drag reduction) advantage down the straight.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen notched his first F1 win of the season at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, holding off Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in another ...

"You can only imagine the RB moaning if Leclerc had made up 4 seconds to Verstappen under the virtual safety car." However, whether Hamilton and co should have been racing at all has been widely debated, following a missile attack near the Jeddah track on Friday. "Verstappen is not respectful of other drivers, the rules etc. And sure enough, there was little in the way of sympathy flying around on social media. The result proved the perfect response from the Red Bull driver after he failed to finish in Bahrain last weekend. However, Verstappen still found himself chastised by fans after the race after being caught complaining on team radio.

Verstappen secured his first victory since claiming his maiden F1 world title last season.

“It seems like once you get quite close, because when the cars get within half a second you can actually have a good exit. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. “It was a really tough but good race,” said the 24-year-old after his 20th win in F1. “We were battling hard at the front and we (Red Bull) just tried to play the long game.