2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

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2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Race 2 of 24 in the 2024 Formula One World Championship
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Jeddah Street Circuit 2021.svg
The circuit layout
Race details [1]
Date9 March 2024
Official name Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
Location Jeddah Corniche Circuit
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Course Street Circuit
Course length 6.174 km (3.836 miles)
Distance 50 laps, 308.450 km (191.662 miles)
Weather Clear
Pole position
Driver Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
Time 1:27.472
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Monaco.svg Charles Leclerc Ferrari
Time 1:31.632 on lap 50
Podium
First Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
Second Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders
  • 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.

Contents

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. [2]

The Grand Prix was scheduled for a Saturday to accommodate Ramadan, which began on 10 March. [3]

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. [4]

Entrants

Ollie Bearman Austria 2022.jpg
Formula1Gabelhofen2022 (04) (cropped).jpg
Debutant Oliver Bearman (left) stood in for Carlos Sainz Jr. (right) at Ferrari.

The drivers and teams were initially the same as the season entry list. [5] 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. [6] Bearman made his Formula One debut. [7]

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. [8]

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. [9] [5] 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. [10] The session was topped by Alonso ahead of George Russell of Mercedes and Verstappen. [11] 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. [12]

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on 8 March 2024, at 20:00 local time (UTC+3). [1]

Qualifying classification

Pos.No.DriverConstructorQualifying timesFinal
grid
Q1Q2Q3
11 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 1:28.1711:28.0331:27.4721
216 Flag of Monaco.svg Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:28.3181:28.1121:27.7912
311 Flag of Mexico.svg Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 1:28.6381:28.4671:27.8073
414 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 1:28.7061:28.1221:27.8464
581 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.7551:28.3431:28.0895
64 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.8051:28.4791:28.1326
763 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg George Russell Mercedes 1:28.7491:28.4481:28.3167
844 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:28.9941:28.6061:28.4608
922 Flag of Japan.svg Yuki Tsunoda RB-Honda RBPT 1:28.9881:28.5641:28.5479
1018 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 1:28.2501:28.5781:28.57210
1138 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Oliver Bearman Ferrari 1:28.9841:28.642N/A11
1223 Flag of Thailand.svg Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:29.1071:28.980N/A12
1320 Flag of Denmark.svg Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1:29.0691:29.020N/A13
143 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Daniel Ricciardo RB-Honda RBPT 1:29.0651:29.025N/A14
1527 Flag of Germany.svg Nico Hülkenberg Haas-Ferrari 1:29.055No timeN/A15
1677 Flag of Finland.svg Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber-Ferrari 1:29.179N/AN/A16
1731 Flag of France.svg Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 1:29.475N/AN/A17
1810 Flag of France.svg Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 1:29.479N/AN/A18
192 Flag of the United States.svg Logan Sargeant Williams-Mercedes 1:29.526N/AN/A19
107% time: 1:34.342
24 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhou Guanyu Kick Sauber-Ferrari No timeN/AN/A20 1
Source: [13] [14]

Notes

Race

The race was held on 9 March 2024, at 20:00 local time (UTC+3), and was run for 50 laps. [1]

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. [15] 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. [16] 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's first point of the season. [17]

Polesitter Max Verstappen won the race ahead of teammate Sergio Pérez, marking a second straight 12 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. [18] [16] McLaren's Oscar Piastri finished fourth with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso in fifth. Mercedes's 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. [16]

Race classification

Pos.No.DriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
11 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 501:20:43.273125
211 Flag of Mexico.svg Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 50+13.643 1 318
316 Flag of Monaco.svg Charles Leclerc Ferrari 50+18.639216 2
481 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 50+32.007512
514 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 50+35.759410
663 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg George Russell Mercedes 50+39.93678
738 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Oliver Bearman Ferrari 50+42.679116
84 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 50+45.70864
944 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 50+47.39182
1027 Flag of Germany.svg Nico Hülkenberg Haas-Ferrari 50+1:16.996151
1123 Flag of Thailand.svg Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 50+1:28.35412
1220 Flag of Denmark.svg Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 50+1:45.737 3 13
1331 Flag of France.svg Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 49+1 lap17
142 Flag of the United States.svg Logan Sargeant Williams-Mercedes 49+1 lap19
1522 Flag of Japan.svg Yuki Tsunoda RB-Honda RBPT 49+1 lap 4 9
163 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Daniel Ricciardo RB-Honda RBPT 49+1 lap14
1777 Flag of Finland.svg Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber-Ferrari 49+1 lap16
1824 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhou Guanyu Kick Sauber-Ferrari 49+1 lap20
Ret18 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 5Accident10
Ret10 Flag of France.svg Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 1Gearbox18
Fastest lap: Flag of Monaco.svg Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 1:31.632 (lap 50)
Source: [14] [19] [20] [21]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024 – F1 Race". Formula 1. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  2. "Saudi Arabia". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  3. Bekking, Casper (10 February 2024). "Why F1 Bahrain and Saudi Arabia GPs are on Saturday". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  4. "Bahrain 2024 – Championship". Stats F1. 2 March 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  5. 1 2 "2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – P1 Classification" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  6. "2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Revised Entry List" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 8 March 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  7. Cleeren, Filip (8 March 2024). "Bearman replaces Sainz at Ferrari for Saudi Arabian GP after appendicitis diagnosis". Autosport.
  8. "2024 Tyre Compound Choices – Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Australia". Pirelli. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  9. Gale, Ewan (7 March 2024). "Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024 – F1 Free Practice 1 results". Racingnews365. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  10. Gale, Ewan (7 March 2024). "Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024 – F1 Free Practice 2 delayed". Racingnews365. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  11. Gale, Ewan (7 March 2024). "Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024 – F1 Free Practice 2 results". Racingnews365. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  12. Gale, Ewan (7 March 2024). "Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024 – F1 Free Practice 3 results". Racingnews365. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  13. "2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Final Qualifying Classification" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 8 March 2024. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  14. 1 2 3 "Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024 – Starting Grid". Formula 1. 8 March 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  15. Wood, Will (9 March 2024). "Stewards explain why Norris avoided jump start penalty". RaceFans. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Verstappen seals assured victory in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as Bearman scores points on debut". Formula1.com. 9 March 2024.
  17. ""We really earned it today" Kevin happy to help Haas score 'huge' point". Formula 1. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  18. "'It's 88 missed podiums!' – Verstappen reflects on 100th F1 rostrum appearance as he praises 'fantastic' Bearman". Formula One Management . 9 March 2024.
  19. 1 2 3 4 "Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024 – Race Result". Formula 1. 9 March 2024. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  20. 1 2 "Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024 – Fastest Laps". Formula 1. 9 March 2024. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  21. "Saudi Arabia 2024". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  22. 1 2 "Saudi Arabia 2024 – Championship". Stats F1. 9 March 2024. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
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2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
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2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix