# 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

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

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Qualifying times | Qualifying times | Final grid |
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Final grid |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 1:28.171 | 1:28.033 | 1:27.472 | 1 |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:28.318 | 1:28.112 | 1:27.791 | 2 |
| 3 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 1:28.638 | 1:28.467 | 1:27.807 | 3 |
| 4 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 1:28.706 | 1:28.122 | 1:27.846 | 4 |
| 5 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:28.755 | 1:28.343 | 1:28.089 | 5 |
| 6 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:28.805 | 1:28.479 | 1:28.132 | 6 |
| 7 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:28.749 | 1:28.448 | 1:28.316 | 7 |
| 8 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:28.994 | 1:28.606 | 1:28.460 | 8 |
| 9 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | 1:28.988 | 1:28.564 | 1:28.547 | 9 |
| 10 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 1:28.250 | 1:28.578 | 1:28.572 | 10 |
| 11 | 38 | Oliver Bearman | Ferrari | 1:28.984 | 1:28.642 | N/A | 11 |
| 12 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 1:29.107 | 1:28.980 | N/A | 12 |
| 13 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1:29.069 | 1:29.020 | N/A | 13 |
| 14 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB-Honda RBPT | 1:29.065 | 1:29.025 | N/A | 14 |
| 15 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | 1:29.055 | No time | N/A | 15 |
| 16 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber-Ferrari | 1:29.179 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
| 17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1:29.475 | N/A | N/A | 17 |
| 18 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | 1:29.479 | N/A | N/A | 18 |
| 19 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | 1:29.526 | N/A | N/A | 19 |
| 107% time: 1:34.342 ||||||||
| — | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber-Ferrari | No time | N/A | N/A | 20 |
| Source: ||||||||
Notes
* ^1 – 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' first point of the season.
Polesitter Max Verstappen won the race ahead of teammate Sergio Pérez, marking a second straight 1–2 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' 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

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 50 | 1:20:43.273 | 1 | 25 |
| 2 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 50 | +13.643 | 3 | 18 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 50 | +18.639 | 2 | 16 |
| 4 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | 50 | +32.007 | 5 | 12 |
| 5 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 50 | +35.759 | 4 | 10 |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 50 | +39.936 | 7 | 8 |
| 7 | 38 | Oliver Bearman | Ferrari | 50 | +42.679 | 11 | 6 |
| 8 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 50 | +45.708 | 6 | 4 |
| 9 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 50 | +47.391 | 8 | 2 |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | 50 | +1:16.996 | 15 | 1 |
| 11 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 50 | +1:28.354 | 12 | |
| 12 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 50 | +1:45.737 | 13 | |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 49 | +1 lap | 17 | |
| 14 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | 49 | +1 lap | 19 | |
| 15 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | 49 | +1 lap | 9 | |
| 16 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB-Honda RBPT | 49 | +1 lap | 14 | |
| 17 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber-Ferrari | 49 | +1 lap | 16 | |
| 18 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber-Ferrari | 49 | +1 lap | 20 | |
| Ret | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 5 | Accident | 10 | |
| Ret | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | 1 | Gearbox | 18 | |
| Fastest lap: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 1:31.632 (lap 50) ||||||||
| Source: ||||||||
Notes
* ^1 – Sergio Pérez received a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release. His final position was not affected by the penalty.
* ^2 – Includes one point for fastest lap.
* ^3 – 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.
* ^4 – Yuki Tsunoda finished 14th on track, but received a post-race five-second time penalty for an unsafe release.

## Championship standings after the race

| | Pos. | Driver | Points |
| | 1 | Max Verstappen | 51 |
| | 2 | Sergio Pérez | 36 |
| 1 | 3 | Charles Leclerc | 28 |
| 1 | 4 | George Russell | 18 |
| 3 | 5 | Oscar Piastri | 16 |
| Source: ||||
| | Pos. | Constructor | Points |
| | 1 | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 87 |
| | 2 | Ferrari | 49 |
| 1 | 3 | McLaren-Mercedes | 28 |
| 1 | 4 | Mercedes | 26 |
| | 5 | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 13 |
| Source: ||||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.