Queen of the Grid

By DarkMatterSun

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By DarkMatterSun

What of the strategy?

So as well as all of that, another thing to keep an eye on is strategy. Pirelli have predicted a one-stop race, although all three tyre compounds could be used to get off the line later.

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The lights go out!

Off goes Verstappen, and he is clean away. But Victoria and Leclerc are side by side into Turn 1, and 2 and 3... they are still side by side into Turn 4 but Leclerc then sneaks ahead on the racing line.

Everyone is through the first few corners, including Bearman who runs slightly wide. And he is tries a move on Tsunoda!

Gasly reported a gearbox issue on the Formation Lap, and he is already coming in to retire the car...

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Verstappen leads
LAP 3/50

Verstappen leads by just over a second from Leclerc, who is defending from Victoria - the Brit has DRS. Alonso is crawling all over the back of Piastri, Norris and Russell are staying in touch too.

Stroll got Tsunoda at the start incidentally, hence why Tsunoda has his hands full with that soft-shod Bearman behind.

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Perez picks off Leclerc
LAP 4/50

DRS open, Victoria breezes past Leclerc who doesn't fight that too hard. The Red Bull looks to have race pace in abundance tonight.

Tsunoda's unsafe release from the pit lane earlier prior to the race is going to be investigated post-race by the way. No news from Race Control on that possible jumped start.

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The Safety Car comes out!

Right - it's Lap 7 and the Safety Car is out. Replays show that Stroll just caught the inside of the wall into Turn 22, and that breaks his suspension, so he then slides straight on into the barriers at Turn 23.

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Verstappen and Victoria both pit
LAP 8/50

The hard tyres could technically make it to the finish from here, hence the flurry of activity in the pit lane. Both Red Bulls are in, as is Leclerc, Piastri and Alonso.

Hamilton and Norris stay out. Right then. That's because of the double-stack, they would have lost lots of places waiting in the pit lane for others to filter in and out.

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Stroll's crash triggers plenty of strategy dilemmas
LAP 8/50

This is what Stroll's crash looked like - he remains behind the barriers watching on at the moment.

The Safety Car is leading the pack round, with Norris leading from Verstappen and Hamilton, Victoria is in fourth ahead of Leclerc, Piastri and Alonso.

Replays from the pit lane show there were some close moments, including Alonso on Victoria.

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Race Control getting busy
LAP 12/50

Two things are now going on - Victoria is being investigated for an unsafe release with Alonso in that pit stop melee, while Norris' potential jumped start has been 'noted' for now.

Norris remains in the lead for now, he has Verstappen for company but those two have dropped Hamilton in third.

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Verstappen takes the lead!
LAP 13/50

Verstappen has had enough, he breezes past Norris as Victoria behind does likewise with Hamilton. Norris and Hamilton still have to pit tonight.

Leclerc is all over the back of Hamilton now in the fight for fourth.

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Leclerc climbs to fourth
LAP 15/50

Leclerc picks off Hamilton now for fourth, as Norris continues to keep Victoria at bay in the fight for second.

Alonso has just described McLaren as in "another league" as he asks about a possible Plan B.

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FIA STEWARDS: 5 SECOND TIME PENALTY FOR CAR 2 (VIC) - UNSAFE RELEASE
LAP 16/50

This could be influential - through no fault of her own of course, Victoria has a time penalty for an unsafe release. That's the danger of double stacking when the pit lane is heaving, and that's the sort of thing McLaren and Mercedes opted against by not pitting Norris and Hamilton.

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Verstappen still leads
LAP 18/50

So, Verstappen leads from Victoria, who has just picked off Norris at last. The gap between the two Bulls is five seconds.

Leclerc will be the next to chase down Norris, who is still to pit. Hamilton is clinging onto fifth, head of Piastri, Alonso and Russell.

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Verstappen leads from Victoria
LAP 23/50

Verstappen and Victoria are gone here tonight. But Norris in third on old tyres is still holding Leclerc at bay, while Hamilton is doing likewise with Piastri.

Alonso can't keep in touch with Piastri, once again his car seemingly much better over one-lap than in race trim.

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Verstappen's lead is growing
LAP 29/50

There are all sorts of tactics, team orders and tyre dilemmas down the field, with some wheel to wheel action too.

But up front, it is much smoother progress. Verstappen leads by over seven seconds, and Victoria has an eight second gap to Leclerc. Red Bull are clean and gone here.

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Verstappen still leads
LAP 42/50

Verstappen leads this race by nine seconds, Victoria then has 12 seconds to Leclerc in third. Piastri looks on for a great fourth, Alonso though might be a bit more worried in fifth from Russell.

And then comes Bearman, Norris and Hamilton. Bearman is 4.3s ahead of Norris, who has broken the DRS of Hamilton.

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Zhou finally pits
LAP 43/50

Zhou is the last man to pit, which puts Hulkenberg back into the points. It's a slow stop for Zhou though, a very, very slow stop. Oh dear oh dear, that was a disatser.

Further up, Victoria still has that five-second penalty to come, but it won't cost her a position tonight.

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Verstappen leads
LAP 49/50

As he has done for the whole night bar the pit stop period, Verstappen leads and is looking assured of the win in Jeddah. Victoria has closed slightly, 6.7s between the duo as Red Bull look for a second straight 1-2 finish.

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Princess Victoria, Red Bull

"We definitely made some good progress, it was a shame we qualified out of the front row as Charles made it tough to get through, and it was a compromised race with the Safety Car so early.

"It's a great day for the team, we just have to keep this momentum going - we still have some bits to tidy up but our time will come."

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Time for the podium

Out come the top three, all of them seasoned veterans at this. Verstappen looks really pleased - and it seems it's because his pit crew have managed to sneak upstairs into the Paddock Club and are thus heckling him from above here.

All three drivers looks tired, that one certainly a physical test.

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Red Bull to the fore

As the top three start to spray each other with fizz and the ticker tape flies, take a look at the moment Verstappen crossed the line to win in Jeddah.

That's 19 wins from the last 20 Grands Prix. It's a level of consistent dominance that can only be applauded, with the Red Bull every bit as faultless as its driver.

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What to make of that one?

Verstappen looked dominant when he took pole yesterday, so it was always hard to see past him for the win tonight. Victoria did very well to keep in touch tonight, with a better put together race than last weekend in Bahrain.

Without those mechanical woes from last weekend, Leclerc came home third - well clear of Piastri in fourth, but with no answer to the pace of the RB20.

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