2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

## Lap Leaders

The **2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix** (officially known as the **Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023**) was the second race of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship, held at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on the weekend of March 17 to March 19, 2023.

## Background

### Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Max Verstappen leads the World Drivers' Championship with 25 points, 7 points from his teammate Sergio Pérez, second, and 10 from Fernando Alonso, third. Red Bull Racing, with 44 points, leads the Constructors' Championship from Aston Martin by 20 points and Mercedes by 27 points.

### Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.

### Tyre choices

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C2, C3, and C4 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.

### Track changes

Turns 22 and 23 were tightened and the walls were moved back at several corners, due to safety concerns relating to fast, blind corners. Kerbing was also altered to improve safety. Additionally, the third DRS detection point was moved farther ahead, being positioned on the exit of turn 27. As a result, the third DRS activation point was moved farther ahead, being positioned 240 metres (790 ft) after turn 27. Changes to the DRS zones were made in response to dangerous tactics employed at previous editions of the Grand Prix, where drivers would brake erratically for turn 27, in order to fall behind the opposition and gain the advantage of DRS.

## Qualifying

### Qualifying Report

Qualifying was held on March 19, 2023 at 20:00 local time (UTC+3).

## Race

### Race Report

After the end of the formation lap, Alonso lined up with the left side of his car outside of the starting position on the grid. At the start he managed to squeeze past Pérez to take the lead, with Russell following third place. However, he was soon handed a five-second penalty for not properly lining up his car on the starting grid. Behind them Stroll overtook Sainz for fourth place, with Ocon and Hamilton behind them. Piastri, who had started in eight place, made contact with Gasly while exiting turn two and this forced him to make a pit stop for a new front wing. His teammate Norris ran over the debris left from the coming together and he was required to make a pitstop as well, one lap later. This left the McLaren pairing at the back of the field. Leclerc and Zhou completed the top ten behind Gasly, with the Monegasque having gained four places from his starting position.

Alonso was able to stay in the lead for three laps, before being passed by Pérez. The top ten then remained relatively stable for a couple of laps, with Leclerc passing Gasly to take eight place during lap seven. Meanwhile, Verstappen was also recovering from his starting position down the order, entering the top ten during lap eight at the expense of Zhou. He gained another place one lap later, passing Gasly, while Leclerc also continued to move forward, through passing Hamilton. Three laps later Verstappen managed to overtake Hamilton as well and one lap later he and Leclerc both passed Ocon.

In the mean time, during lap twelve, Zhou and Hülkenberg were the first drivers to make a regular pitstop for a fresh set of tyres. One lap later, Lance Stroll became the first of the front runners to follow suit, all three of them switching from the medium to the hardest compound in a bid to complete the race with one tyre change. This dropped Stroll to eleventh place. Gasly made his tyre change and the end of the next lap. Sainz, Leclerc and Ocon followed suit during the next two laps, with Sainz rejoining the track ahead of Stroll. This all promoted Verstappen to third place. Shortly afterwards, during lap seventeen, Stroll was suddenly asked to stop his car on track over his team's radio and duly did so in a service area on the outside of turn thirteen. Nevertheless, the safety car was deployed shortly afterwards. This prompted all drivers who had not yet made their regular tyre changes (including the then top five of Pérez, Alonso, Russell, Verstappen and Hamilton) to come into the pits to perform the change, while Alonso also served his five-second time penalty.

The safety car left the track at the end of lap twenty to allow normal racing to resume. Pérez led from Alonso, ahead of Russell in third and Verstappen now fourth. Sainz completed the top five. Over the next two Laps, Hamilton passed Sainz for fifth place and Verstappen Russell for third respectively. At the end of the following lap Verstappen passed Alonso to move into second place.

During lap twenty-eight, Albon was forced to retire his Williams because of a brake failure. The top ten was Pérez, Verstappen, Alonso, Russell, Hamilton, Sainz, Leclerc, Ocon, and Gasly, with Tsunoda joining them. This order remained stable for the next eighteen laps, when Magnussen passed Tsunoda to snatch the final points.

During the final laps first Mercedes and then Aston Martin mentioned over the radio that Alonso could potentially incur an additional penalty of five seconds. Alonso reacted to this by extending his gap over Russell to over five seconds, despite no official message citing an investigation being shown. Despite both reporting issues with the their cars, Pérez and Verstappen easily finished first and second, with Verstappen posting the fastest lap during the last lap and taking the extra point to retain the championship lead. Alonso finished third, making him the sixth driver to have scored 100 podiums in his Formula One career, ahead of Russell and Hamilton. Sainz, Leclerc, Ocon, Gasly and Magnussen completed the top ten.

### Post-race

Shortly after the podium ceremony, an official message was shown that Alonso was under investigation for not having served the first penalty correctly at his pit stop. Minutes later he was handed a ten-second penalty dropping him to fourth behind Russell. The reason given for the ten-second penalty was due to the fact that the rear jack was touching the car while the five-second penalty was still being served, in addition to another mechanic potentially making contact with the car in the same period of time. However, Aston Martin requested a further review of the penalty, and upon analysing the additional evidence the stewards decided to rescind the penalty and have Alonso's third place reinstated. Alonso criticised the FIA for its delayed response, having been informed of his penalty after the podium celebrations; Russell criticised the penalties as being "too extreme". The FIA clarified the matter before the next round of the championship, stating that neither jacks, nor any other tools or mechanics can touch the car when a driver serves their penalty at a pit stop.

## Notes

1. ↑ Charles Leclerc received a ten-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of control electronics elements.
2. ↑ Logan Sargeant failed to set a time within the 107% requirement. He was permitted to race at the stewards' discretion.
3. ↑ Includes one point for fastest lap.