Max Verstappen is not known for being a good loser. In Saudi Arabia he swept from 15th on the grid to second place, so he celebrated a podium finish. And the fastest lap at the end of the race brought him the championship lead ahead of his teammate Sergio Pérez.
Verstappen was still not satisfied. He knows that under normal circumstances, i.e. without the technical defect in qualifying, that would have been his pole position and possibly his victory.
But he still had critical words. Yes, he improved to second place, which is good, he explained. “And of course the mood in the team is generally good, everyone is happy, but personally I’m not happy. Because I’m not here to finish second. Especially when you work very hard at the factory to make sure you get here in good shape and make sure everything is right.”
“When you’re fighting for the title, and especially when it looks like it’s just between two cars, we have to make sure that the two cars are reliable too,” Verstappen demanded.
Some of that didn’t go over well. “It’s really not good to see that,” said ex-world champion Nico Rosberg on Sky Sports F1 regarding Verstappen’s reaction.
“He left the track very quickly on Saturday and apparently skipped the team meeting. That’s what we were told and I think that’s not a good approach, not a good mentality this early in the season.”
Rosberg says: “If the team did such a brilliant job with the car and works so hard, maybe he might be a little more merciful, I would say.”
Saudi Arabian-GP, Jeddah Corniche Circuit
01. Sergio Perez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, 1:21:14.894
02. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, +5,355 sec
03. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, +20,728
04. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, +25,866
05. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, +31,065
06. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, +35,876
07. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, +43,162
08. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, +52,832
09. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, +54,747
10. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, +64.826
11. Yuki Tsunoda (J), AlphaTauri, +67,494
12. Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas, +70,588
13. Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Alfa Romeo, +76,060
14. Nyck de Vries (NL), AlphaTauri, +77,478
15. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, +85.021
16. Logan Sargeant (USA), Williams, +86,293
17. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, +86.445
18. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Alfa Romeo, +1 Runde
Out
Alex Albon (T), Williams, Bremsdefekt
Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, drivetrain failure
Championship status (following 2 of 23 races)
driver
01. Verstappen 44 points
02. Pérez 43
03. Alonso 30
04. Sainz 20
05. Hamilton 20
06. Russell 18
07. Stroll 8
08. Leclerc 6
09. Bottas 4
10. Ocon 4
11. Gasly 4
12. Magnussen 1
13. Albon 1
14.Tsunoda 0
15. Hulkenberg 0
16. Sargeant 0
17. Zhou 0
18. De Vries 0
19. Plates 0
20. Norris 0
Constructors’ Cup
01. Red Bull Racing 87 Punkte
02. Aston Martin 38
03. Mercedes 38
04. Ferrari 26
05. Alpine 8
06. Alfa Romeo 4
07. Williams 1
08. Haas 1
09. Alpha Tauri 0
10. McLaren 0