Hello everyone and welcome along to our live blog for the second Formula 1 race of the 2022 season, which is the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Sergio Perez surprisingly put his Red Bull on pole position for this Sunday’s race, but Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is just behind him, with teammate Carlos Sainz in third on the grid. Max Verstappen in the second Red Bull is fourth, so we’ll see if the pole sitter can hold off both Ferraris and the reigning world champion. On this live blog, we’ll have all the pre-race updates and then lap-by-lap reports too.
F1 LIVE Race Coverage – Live Text Commentary from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
This is the very beginning of our F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix live blog, with all our updates from this F1 race following below. As always, the ones nearest the top are the most recent.
Lap 4: Russell into fifth
George Russell makes a great overtake down the inside of Esteban Ocon to get into the top five. Out in front, the top four are covered by five seconds as Hamilton says he’s struggling on the hard tyre. Hamilton is currently in 14th.
Lap 1: Perez keeps the lead, Verstappen up to third
It’s a clean start to the race, with Max Verstappen making a move to get by Carlos Sainz at the first chicane to take third. Sergio Perez gets a great launch toretain first place from Charles Leclerc. Lando Norris gets himself into the top 10.
Starting tyre choices revealed
Ferrari and Red Bull have gone the same way with their starting tyre choices by starting on the mediums, as have most of the field. Kevin Magnussen, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg will start on the hard tyres. The formation lap is underway!
Expect the unexpected
This weekend’s Saudi Arabian GP has already been chaotic on and off the track. Last year’s race saw two red flags and plenty of controversy between Hamilton and Verstappen, and it’s possible there will be drama in Jeddah once again. It will be a surprise if the safety car doesn’t make an appearance.
Hamilton looking to move up the field
Lewis Hamilton will start from 15th after he was eliminated from the first part of qualifying for the first time since the 2017 Brazilian GP. He has a lot of work to do and will be fighting to simply score some world championship points.
“The car is always different when you’ve got [heavy] fuel,” said Hamilton.
“I’ve got a lot of great drivers ahead of me that I need to try and pick off. It’s quite windy, a bit warmer, so I’m positive.”
Tsunoda out of the race already
Yuki Tsunoda has stopped on the way to the grid, he’s out of the race before its even began. The AlphaTauri driver says he lost the engine, so that’s another Red Bull powertrains problem after several issues in Bahrain and this weekend in Jeddah. Tsunoda joins Mick Schumacher on the list of drivers who will not start the race, after the Haas driver had a huge crash in qualifying.
Red Bull vs Ferrari
Pole-sitter Sergio Perez has only won twice on F1 and will face the pressure of leading the field off the line for the first time in his career. Perez was quickest in the speed traps in qualifying, along with teammate Max Verstappen, so the flying Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz may struggle to overtake the Red Bulls on the track. Strategy will be key in the battle for the lead.
Problem for Sainz
There is a lot of work going on at Ferrari after they found an issue on Carlos Sainz’s car. The team have been allowed to replace the part, which is at the back of the car, and Sainz’s machine should be ready to start from third when the race begins.
One hour until lights out in Jeddah
The second race of the 2022 F1 season is just 60 minutes away. If it’s as dramatic as Saturday’s qualifying session, we could be in for a thriller under the lights at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. There should be another big battle between Red Bull and Ferrari for the victory.
Sergio Perez’s pole position lap
Starting Grid
Sergio Perez is the first Mexican to take pole position in F1 and did so at the 215th time of asking. Daniel Ricciardo was also given a three place grid penalty, while Mick Schumacher will not take part in the race after his crash in qualifying.
Hamilton nightmare
Lewis Hamilton will start in 15th place on the grid after Mick Schumacher withdrew from the race following his crash. There was shock on Saturday as Hamilton never managed to get out of Q1 and lamented the poor set up of his Mercedes. Can he storm through he field in the race?
When does Saudi Arabian GP start?
The race for this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix starts at 20:00 local time, which is 19:00 CEST in western Europe or 18:00 BST in the United Kingdom. In the USA, the start time is 13:00 ET or 10:00 PT.
Marca
