Saudi Arabian F1 Grand Prix 2024 Results: Max Verstappen Wins 9th Straight Race
Mike Chiari@@mikechiari
Featured Columnist IVMarch 9, 2024
Max Verstappen dominated the field en route to his ninth consecutive race win at the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday.
Verstappen opened the 2024 F1 season with a convincing win in Bahrain last week, and it was more of the same on Saturday, as he won by over 13 seconds.
Sergio Pérez, who is Verstappen's Red Bull Racing teammate, was the runner-up for a second week in a row, while Charles Leclerc finished third. Here is a full rundown of the finishing order, courtesy of ESPN.com:
1. Max Verstappen
2. Sergio Pérez
3. Charles Leclerc
4. Oscar Piastri
5. Fernando Alonso
6. George Russell
7. Oliver Bearman
8. Lando Norris
9. Lewis Hamilton
10. Nico Hülkenberg
11. Alexander Albon
12. Esteban Ocon
13. Yuki Tsunoda
14. Logan Sargeant
15. Kevin Magnussen
16. Daniel Ricciardo
17. Valterri Bottas
18. Zhou Guanyu
19. Lance Stroll
20. Pierre Gasly
Verstappen led 48 of 50 laps Saturday after leading every lap last week, and the fan reaction on social media once again focused on the huge gap between Verstappen and his peers:
Clapped 🚀 @F1ClappedMax Verstappen wins his 9th GP in a row, and his 56th GP becoming the first person to win Jeddah more than once in the process<br><br>Faultless again, it's becoming the standard for him. <br><br>2 wins down 22 more to go! let's go Max! <a href="https://t.co/0cOd12hcw4">pic.twitter.com/0cOd12hcw4</a>
Jason Hassett @JayhassettAnother clinical display for Max. <br><br>Honestly, whether you like it or not, in my view he's the best driver since Schumacher. <br><br>Vettel had 2013, Hamilton obviously had a longer run of wins but Verstappen just never lets anything go, even when he doesn't need to, utterly dominant.… <a href="https://t.co/dC2JNO2G9h">pic.twitter.com/dC2JNO2G9h</a>
The 26-year-old Verstappen is the three-time defending F1 points champion, and he is well on his way to a fourth consecutive title.
With a ninth straight race win, Verstappen tied Sebastian Vettel for the second-most consecutive wins in F1 history. Verstappen holds the record with 10, and he will have a chance to match it in Melbourne in two weeks.
While Verstappen was the star of the show once again on Saturday, Pérez continued to show that he is an elite driver in his own right with another second-place finish.
Also, Oliver Bearman put himself in elite company, becoming the third-youngest driver to ever start an F1 race at just 18 years of age.
The young phenom started in place of Carlos Sainz Jr., who was unable to compete due to appendicitis.
Lewis Hamilton, who is in the midst of his final season at Mercedes before making the move to Ferrari, never threatened the leaders Saturday and had to settle for a ninth-place finish.
Hamilton is arguably the greatest F1 driver of all time with a record 103 race wins to his credit, but the 39-year-old veteran has not been himself lately.
Last season, Hamilton did not win a race for the first time in his career, and he has finished outside the top five in each of the first two races this season.
The stars of F1 will have next week off before getting back on the track Down Under for the Australian Grand Prix on March 24.
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