Bearman scores on debut as Verstappen wins action-packed Saudi Arabian GP

The Saudi Arabian seaside circuit set the perfect scene for an action-packed display of racing, with Oliver Bearman headlining the night by scoring points on debut behind another dominant Red Bull 1-2, aiding the team in their title defence.

As the field rounded the final corner of the formation lap, Pierre Gasly was already reporting a gearbox issue for his A524.

He still took his place on the grid, as did the other 19 drivers, with their eyes focused on the five lights above.

As they dashed to Turn 1, it was Pole-man Max Verstappen who remained in the lead, putting a small interval between himself and the battle unfolding behind through the opening sector. 

Off the line, Sergio Perez looked set to take second place from Charles Leclerc.

The pairing ran side by side into Turn 1, with the Ferrari driver holding his own for the moment. 

Lance Stroll got the jump on Yuki Tsunoda at the start, sending him back into the clutches of the debutant, Oliver Bearman.

Bearman, starting from P11, was determined to score his first points in this incredible opportunity.

He looked to make his way up the order early on, testing Tsunoda’s defensive abilities through Turn 13, and again down the main straight. 

In Sainz’s SF-24, Bearman momentarily passed the RB driver, however, losing out to Tsunoda’s aggressive style.

Yuki Tsunoda leads Oliver Bearman during the opening staged of the Saudi Arabian GP. Image: Steven Tee / LAT Images.

Oscar Piastri hunted Fernando Alonso down after maintaining his place in P5 off the line.

The McLaren driver stuck with Alonso, passing the Veteran on Lap 2.

Alonso didn’t let him run away with it, however, remaining in the Australian’s mirrors with DRS for the foreseeable future. 

As for Piastri’s teammate, Lando Norris was noted and put under investigation for a jumpstart off the line, spotted by George Russell as the grid set off to Turn 1.

On Lap 4, Sergio Perez took a step closer to his race-leading teammate, overtaking Leclerc with ease into the first turn.

With the field seemingly settling into a groove, Lance Stroll brought an end to that.

The Aston Martin drive had a small lapse in concentration, hitting the wall at Turn 22.

The contact broke his front right steering arm and suspension, sending the #18 hurdling into the barriers.

The incident brought out the first Safety Car of the evening, seeing the opening round of cheap pit stops commencing.

Almost all drivers opted to take the cheap stop, with Lando Norris one to remain out.

At the restart, Norris caught Verstappen off guard as he set off from the pit entry line.

Lando Norris leads the field on the Safety Car restart at the Saudi Arabian GP. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.

As the field converged, Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon had an altercation of their own, with the Haas driver squeezing Albon into the wall, causing damage to the Williams. 

The lead McLaren driver built a gap of over a second as they rounded the first corner on Lap 11, however, in true Verstappen fashion, the Dutchman didn’t need any added assistance in passing the #4 just one lap later.

Behind, Hamilton sat in P3 with the second-running Red Bull on his tail. 

Perez caught and dispatched the Mercedes on Lap 13, with Leclerc shortly following suit into Turn 1.

On Lap 14, Bearman had made his way into the points after overtaking Zhou Guanyu down the main straight for P10. 

His next target was Nico Hulkenberg, however, the 18-year-old’s main priority remained to bring the car home in one piece. 

On Lap 16, Race Control released the verdict on their investigations.

Perez was handed a 5-second penalty for his unsafe release into Alonso’s path, while Kevin Magnussen was handed a 10-second penalty for squeezing Albon into the wall at the restart. 

There was no further action on Lando Norris’ jump-start investigation.

Norris lost out to Perez on Lap 18, falling into the closer Leclerc.

As for his teammate, Piastri was working his way up the field, fighting hard with Hamilton for P5.

Lewis Hamilton leads Oscar Piastri during the Saudi Arabian GP. Image: Andy Hone / LAT Images.

The duo made slight contact into Turn 1, with carbon fibre flying off the #81’s car as he gave the position back after overtaking off the track. 

They continued their battle, with Piastri close, but not close enough with the aid of DRS down the main straight.

Bearman found himself on the rear of Hulkenberg, complaining that the Haas was “so slow” as he ran less than five-tenths behind.

He had a look into Turn 27, finally passing the German driver into Turn 1 on Lap 21. 

Haas’ woes continued, with Hulkenberg’s teammate being handed his second 10-second penalty, this time for leaving the track and gaining an advantage over Yuki Tsunoda as the duo battled for P13.

As the race reached half-distance, Verstappen set the fastest lap of 1:32.683s, extending his lead interval of 6.6 seconds over his teammate.

Piastri and McLaren grew frustrated as they remained stuck behind Hamilton. 

Their annoyance would continue as Leclerc worked his way past on Lap 27.

Towards the back of the grid, Magnussen started playing the team game as he led, and held up, a DRS train of five cars including Tsunoda, Ocon, Albon and Sargeant to protect Hulkenberg in P10.

Running so close together, Albon had to stamp hard on the brakes into the first corner as he battled directly with the aggressive Alpine ahead. 

Kevin Magnussen leads a DRS train of Tsunoda, Ocon, Albon and Sargeant during the Saudi Arabian GP. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.

Ocon’s focus soon shifted to Tsunoda ahead, after the Japanese driver’s overtaking attempt on Magnussen failed.

Tsunoda passed the Haas into Turn 1, however, after an unusual bout of generosity out of the corner left the door wide open, the #20 aggressively regained his place in P12.

To make matters worse for Tsunoda, Ocon was able to capitalise, demoting the RB driver to P14.

Thanks to Magnussen’s successful team tactics, Ricciardo and Bottas had clawed their way up to the back of the DRS train, joining the thrilling fight.

On Lap 34, Hulkenberg pitted, putting Magnussen’s work to the test.

The German rejoined the race in P11, just ahead of his teammate who rounded the first corner as he exited the pitlane.

On Lap 36, Piastri had Hamilton into Turn 1, however, the Australian then locked up, allowing Hamilton to regain P5.

It was an anti-climatic end to their battle, as the Mercedes driver dipped into the pits, making the switch to the soft tyre.

Norris also stopped on the following lap, rejoining 1.2 seconds ahead of Hamilton.

The #4 and #44 were chasing down the newest British addition to the F1 grid this weekend, with Bearman running an incredible race in P7.

Oliver Bearman finished his F1 debut at the Saudi Arabian GP in the points. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.

Holding up that hunt, Hamilton looked set to attack the McLaren ahead after setting the fastest lap. 

Race Control noted Norris’ defensive efforts to break the tow to Hamilton, with the #4 weaving down the straight.

He was shown the black and white flag as a warning from the stewards.

On Lap 43, Bearman was warned of Norris’ expected arrival in 4 laps time, however, told that he would have the chance to finish ahead of both chasing Brits.

With 5 laps to go, Norris was 3.3 seconds behind, with Hamilton testing the McLaren in his DRS range.

On the final lap, Norris was still a significant 2.3 seconds behind the debutant, seeing Bearman set for a points finish in Saudi Arabia.

His 18-year-old teammate crossed the line in P7, contributing 6 points to Ferrari’s total and becoming just one of a few drivers to score points in their F1 debut.

He was also voted ‘Driver of The Day’ by the fans, earning 48% of the vote.

Rounding the final corner, chequered flag waving, it was no other than Max Verstappen who claimed the top step of the podium.

Max Verstappen celebrates his 100th podium in F1 as he hails victorious in Saudi Arabia. Image: Mark Thompson // Red Bull Content Pool.

He crossed the line over 13 seconds clear of his teammate who had taken his 5-second penalty in P2, winning the opening two rounds of the season for the first time in his Formula 1 career and taking his 100th podium. 

Charles Leclerc completed the podium places, finishing his somewhat lonely Grand Prix in third place.

One driver who had a nightmare race was Daniel Ricciardo, who spun on the final lap into Turn 1.

The Australian finished the race to forget in P16, remaining behind Kevin Magnussen even after the Haas driver had taken his two 10-second penalties.

The drivers will head our way in two weeks’ time, with the highly anticipated Australian Grand Prix  weekend starting with FP1 at 12:30 PM, on March 22.

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Results:

There’s lots more loaded into a bumper edition of AUTO ACTION magazine, on sale at newsagents and available digitally here.

For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.

Latest Podcast: Hats off to you. It’s the Auto Action Rev Limiter

Hooray, F1 is back. Boo, Max Verstappen wins. The Bahrain Grand Prix was a little underwhelming, but at least there was racing… and scandal. There was plenty of scandel, but we don’t do that stuff apparently, so we don’t talk about Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner and Jos Verstappen.