Summary
Tweet us with #BrigF1 for all your reactions and best memes of the race and we'll include the best in our coverage
Max Verstappen victor last time out starts 15th
Leclerc 10 place penalty puts him 12th
Perez starting on pole
Alonso taking lights from 2nd
23:00 further update, Alonso reinstated as 3rd place finisher
19:21
Aston Martin potentially going to appeal Alonso penalty
18:56 BREAKING
18:48 Early soundings are that Alonso will get a 10 sec penalty
18:42 As the 3 men take the podium, news filters through that the stewards are looking into whether the rear jack was indeed touching Alonso’s car as he served his 5 second penalty in the pits. If it is found to have done so, and he gets the same penalty as ocon two weeks ago, he will be demoted to 4th.
18:38 Finally 3rd placed Alonso
18:37 2nd placed Max next
18:36 Let’s hear from the winner
18:33 Fernando Alonso takes his 100th podium finish in his career, only the 6th man to achieve this in F1
18:29 Top Ten:
Perez
Verstappen
Alonso*
Russell*
Hamilton
Sainz
Leclerc
Ocon
Gasly
Magnussen
*potential penalty for Alonso tbc
18:28 Alonso takes 3rd, 5.1 ahead of Russell but Ocon got 10 secs for his mis-serving of his penalty last time out in Bahrain. If Alonso gets a penalty he’ll fall to fourth, if it’s 10 seconds
18:27 Max takes 2nd and the fastest lap to lead the championship by a point
18:26 PEREZ WINS
18:25 Max is pushing for the fastest lap on the last lap and is going purple in first sector
18:24 FINAL LAP
18:23 Alonso being told to push to extend to 5 seconds as there’s a conversation about if the rear jack touched the rear of the car during his stop or not
18:21 Mercedes telling Russell that Alonso may have a 5 sec penalty at the end of the race with George only 4.5 behind
18:20 Max starting to fall back now, the gap up to 6.5. Checo looking set to take the championship lead
18:19 Magnussen and Tsunoda steam into turn one and the Dane manages to just about hold the car on the track and up into the last points paying position.
18:18 Instead of getting by the Williams in front, the two McLaren’s are fighting themselves as Piastri sticks it down the inside of Norris into turn one, but Norris switches back and retakes the position.
18:17 5 LAPS TO GO
18:14 The McLarens are all over the back of the Williams of Sargeant… but it’s only for 15th
18:12 Perez is holding the fastest lap of the day so far and a gap of 4.3
18:11 Alonso looks safe for a podium as his gap to Russell is now 5 seconds with Hamilton a further 3 behind in 5th
18:10 10 laps to go
18:08 Max sounding more and more stressed over the potential driveshaft issue, meanwhile Perez complaining about a long brake pedal.
18:06 Zhou jumps up to 13th past the Williams of Sargeant, Max still complaining, saying there’s a high pitch noise at high speed.
18:05 Max complaining that the driveshaft is running rough, late drama for the champion?
18:04 Bottas pits from the back onto the soft tyre. Max has fastest lap so far, but if it’s stolen then the two Redbulls will be level on points if it stays as it is
18:02 Max isnt hanging about, 15 laps to go and the fastest laps keep coming but the gap is only down to 4.5 to Perez out in front
17:59 top ten so far:
Perez
Verstappen
Alonso
Russell
Hamilton
Sainz
Leclerc
Ocon
Gasly
Tsunoda
17:56 Max pumping in a couple purple sectors and the gap is now down to 4.7
17 laps to go
17:55 Hamilton falling back a bit and is now out of DRS of George ahead. Alonso seems to have the pace to hold onto a podium here so far.
17:54 Perez holding that gap out just above 5 secs, Max is marginally faster, but barely, and not enough to challenge.
17:53 Russell arguing against letting Lewis through by saying Alonso has a penalty. His team duely tell him it’s been served already, the response? “aww ****”
17:52 ALBON OUT: The williams pulls into the pit and is out of the race
17:51 Hamilton now starting to attack Russell down the pit straight, no team orders so far, surely this is holding up Lewis
17:50 Albon cruising around as he shouts brake failure over the radio
17:49 Max sets the fastest lap of the GP so far, gap to Perez now 5.3
17:48 Alonso sticking in the DRS to Max to try hold off the Mercedes behind as long as he can
17:47 Leclerc not happy with the pitwall. De ja vou?
17:46 Verstappen up to 2nd down the pit straight. Gap 5.5 to Perez
17:45 George now falling into the clutches of Hamilton who has come alive on the medium tyres
17:44 Verstappen up into 3rd as he easily dispatches the Mercedes.
17:43 Perez steaming out in front as he is trying to put as big a buffer between him and max as he can. his lead over Alonso in now 4 seconds
17:42 Hamilton gets past Sainz utilising his softer rubber in the traction zones out of turn two
17:41 George is now under pressure from the rocket-Redbull of Max. No DRS for the first few laps after the restart
17:40 Russell pressures Alonso on the restart but there’s no way through
17:39 Safety car in this lap: 20/50
17:38 Top 10 before the restart:
Perez
Alonso
Russell
Verstappen
Sainz
Hamilton
Leclerc
Tsunoda
Ocon
Gasly
17:37 Bottas now catching the pack so Safety car should be in this lap
17:36 Hamilton the odd one out again on the medium tyre with everyone in the top ten now on hard tyres
17:35 Alonso holds onto 2nd after his penalty. But Verstappen is up to 4th ahead of Sainz and Hamilton wiping out his 20+ sec deficit to Perez
17:34 Perez, Alonso, Russell, Verstappen, Hamilton all pit
17:33 SAFETY CAR
17:32 STROLL OUT
17:31 Leclerc comes out ahead of Stroll as the Canadian’s early pit has not worked out
17:30 Leclerc in and on to the hard tyre as well
17:29 Sainz comes out in 9th ahead of the earlier pitting Stroll
17:28 Sainz pits now onto hard tyres, interesting given Leclerc is still running on the soft and is still fast
17:27 a lot of cars pitting now and going onto the hard tyre
17:26 Leclerc is now just 4 secs behind his teammate going into lap 16
17:25 Stroll pits onto the hard tyre and comes out just in from of Albon as Max makes quick work of Ocon
17:24 Leclerc now chasing down the Alpine of Ocon. and breezes past him and up to 6th
17:22 Verstappen now past Hamilton and up to 8th. 2 secs behind Leclerc and 20 secs behind the leader
17:21 Alonso told the Hard tyre is not looking great, probably down to Hamilton’s feedback, so will have to extend and finish on the soft on a one stop
17:20 Russell has broken the DRS margin to Stroll behind as he’s wringing performance out of that Mercedes
17:19 Hamilton on the radio complaining about the hard tyres.
17:18 Leclerc up into 7th as he passes Hamilton into turn 1. He didn’t fight it much. probably hoping the Ferrari can drag him along in the DRS
17:17 Alonso told he’s on plan A but Perez is just starting to edge out the gap to that important 1 sec margin
17:16 Hamilton is surely a sitting duck with Leclerc on the soft tyres. Verstappen is now into the points
17:15 Here’s why Alonso has that penalty to serve at his next pit
17:14 Leclerc takes Gasly into turn one and now is right behind Hamilton
17:13 The DRS is so powerful here in Jeddah, Alonso is being kept in touch of the Redbull courtesy of the rear wing device
17:12 Verstappen now up to 11th, just Zhou between him and Leclerc now
17:11 Starting to stretch his lead now is Perezas he’s trying to break the DRS
17:10 Perez takes the lead, How important will that be to his chances of a win with Max fighting through the pack
17:09 Norris pits for a front wing too. Both McLarens are now at the back of the grid.
17:08 Verstappen is up to 13th, Leclerc running in 9th now. Stroll now chasing after 3rd placed Russell
17:07 FIVE SECOND TIME PENALTY – Alonso
17:06 Perez all over the back of Alonso, as Piastri pits for a wing change
17:05 Stroll takes Sainz around the outside! Piastri has damage and Alonso reported for incorrect starting place…. phew
17:04 Alonso takes the lead into turn one! Leclerc up to 10th!
17:03 And off we go!
17:02 Perez lining up but it’ll be a fair wait on the grid as Norris and Sargeant are just coming round the final corner
17:00 And the cars leave the grid for the parade lap, Most are on the mediums except Hamilton in 7th on the hards, and Leclerc on the softs
16:58 Just a wee reminder of the starting grid for today’s action
16:55 5 minutes to go, just enough time to get a cuppa ready or a few tins out the fridge so you don’t miss a thing at the start
16:48 One of the big hitters on the grid for the race today…
16:45 Horner playing down the threat of Max from 15th, fair to say he’s the only one who thinks a podium is his aim
16:42 Tweet us with #BrigF1 for all your reactions and best memes of the race and we’ll include the best in our coverage
16:40 Can Ferrari put their gremlins to bed before the championship drives off into the distance on the back of the Redbull cars?
16:32
16:25 Lights out is on the hour at 17:00. Who have you got to win? Perez from pole? Alonso on the front row? or Max Verstappen from all the way back in 15th?
Let us know #BrigF1
16:10 It’s race day once again and welcome back to more live coverage of this, the 2nd round of the championship from Brig.
Up front we have Perez who will be looking to make an impact by throwing his hat in the ring for the championship as his Champion teammate starts all the way back in 15th after his driveshaft failed in Q2.
Alongside Perez is the wily old fox Alonso who has maintained a fabulous start by putting his Aston Martin on the front row after Leclerc took a 10 place grid penalty for using his 3rd control electronics unit in just 2 race weekends.
George Russell impressed on Saturday and put the struggling Mercedes on 3rd for the start today.
A mixed up grid promises to give us even more action in this fast street circuit that already looked so tight in performance behind the Redbulls
Trying to find my voice in the modern digital journalism landscape.
Have a creative flair, and not scared to rock the boat.
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