The 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024) was a Formula One motor race held on 9 March 2024 at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

, Saudi Arabia. The race was the second round of the

2024 Formula One World Championship The 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship is a planned motor racing championship for Formula One cars set to be the 75th running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), ...

Max Verstappen Max Emilian Verstappen (; born 30 September 1997) is a Belgian-Dutch Auto racing, racing driver and the 2021 Formula One World Championship, 2021 and 2022 Formula One World Championship, 2022 Formula One World Champion. He Formula One drivers ...

won the race from

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

, taking his 100th podium, his ninth victory in a row, and his second victory of the season. This race saw the Grand Prix debut of Formula 2 driver Oliver Bearman, who substituted for Carlos Sainz Jr. at

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

. Bearman finished in seventh place scoring his first points in Formula One.

Background

The event was held across 7–9 March. It was the second round of the

and the fourth running of the

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix ( ar, جائزة السعودية الكبرى) is a Formula One motor racing event which took place for the first time in 2021. The inaugural edition of the race was held in Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia. It was the fif ...

. The Grand Prix was scheduled for a Saturday to accommodate

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

, which began on 10 March.

Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend,

led the Drivers' Championship with 26 points, 8 points from his teammate

Sergio Pérez Sergio Michel "Checo" Pérez Mendoza (; born 26 January 1990), is a Mexican Auto racing, racing driver who races in Formula One for Red Bull Racing, having previously driven for Sauber, McLaren, Force India, and Racing Point. He won his first ...

in second, and 11 from Carlos Sainz Jr. in third. Red Bull Racing led the Constructors' Championship over

by 17 points, and

Mercedes Mercedes may refer to: People * Mercedes (name), a Spanish feminine name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or last name Automobile-related * Mercedes (marque), the pre-1926 brand name of German automobile m ...

by 28 points.

Entrants

The drivers and teams were initially the same as the season entry list. However,

reserve and Formula 2 driver Oliver Bearman replaced Carlos Sainz Jr. starting from the third free practice session, after Sainz was diagnosed with appendicitis and withdrew from the event to undergo surgery. Bearman made his Formula One debut.

Tyre choices

Tyre supplier

Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is a multinational tyre manufacturer based in Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 1922, is the 6th-largest tyre manufacturer and is focused on the consumer production of tyre ...

brought the C2, C3, and C4 tyre compounds designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.

Practice

Three free practice sessions were held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 7 March 2024, at 16:30 local time ( UTC+3), and was topped by

of Red Bull Racing ahead of

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and Mi ...

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...

and Verstappen's teammate

. The second free practice session was held on the same day and was scheduled at 20:00 local time, but was delayed by ten minutes as bolts were checked on drain covers in the pit lane. The session was topped by Alonso ahead of George Russell of

and Verstappen. The third free practice session was held on 8 March 2024, at 16:30 local time, and was topped by Verstappen ahead of Charles Leclerc of

and Verstappen's teammate Pérez. The session was red-flagged after Sauber's Zhou Guanyu lost control of his car and crashed into the barriers, but was resumed after necessary repairs to the barriers were carried out.

Qualifying

Qualifying Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

was held on 8 March 2024, at 20:00 local time ( UTC+3).

Qualifying classification

Notes * – Zhou Guanyu failed to set a time during qualifying. He was permitted to race at the stewards' discretion.

Race

The race was held on 9 March 2024, at 20:00 local time ( UTC+3), and was run for 50 laps.

Race report

At the starting grid, Norris appeared to jump the start but the stewards did not issue any penalty as the FIA's standardised grid box transponder did not detect an infringement. The sporting regulations require these transponders to detect an infringement for a penalty to be issued. There were two retirements. On the opening lap, Pierre Gasly reported gearbox issues which forced him to retire. Lance Stroll retired on lap 7 due to a crash which brought out a safety car. Polesitter

won the race ahead of teammate

, marking a second straight 12 for Red Bull Racing, with

's Charles Leclerc in third. This marked Verstappen's 100th career podium.

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

's Oscar Piastri finished fourth with

in fifth.

' George Russell finished sixth with Ferrari debutant Oliver Bearman in seventh. They were followed by Lando Norris, who briefly led the Grand Prix, in eighth, and Lewis Hamilton in ninth, after both drivers attempted an alternate tyre strategy. Nico Hülkenberg claimed the final point in tenth, clinching his and Haas's first point of the season.

Race classification

Notes * –

received a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release. His final position was not affected by the penalty. * – Includes one point for fastest lap. * – Kevin Magnussen finished 11th, but received two ten-second time penalties. The first was for causing a collision with

Alexander Albon Alexander Albon Ansusinha ( th, อเล็กซานเดอร์ อัลบอน อังศุสิงห์; , , born 23 March 1996) is a Thai-British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Williams Racing, under th ...

, and the second was for leaving the track and gaining an advantage while overtaking Yuki Tsunoda. * – Yuki Tsunoda finished 14th on track, but received a post-race five-second time penalty for an unsafe release.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings {, class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%;" ! scope="col" , ! scope="col" , ! scope="col" , Constructor ! scope="col" , Points , - , align="left", 1rightarrow blue

, align="center", 1 , Red Bull Racing- Honda RBPT , align="left", 87 , - , align="left", 1rightarrow blue

, align="center", 2 ,

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, align="left", 28 , - , align="left", 1downarrow red

1 , align="center", 4 , {{nowrap, {{flagicon, GER

, align="left", 26 , - , align="left", 1rightarrow blue

, align="center", 5 , {{nowrap, {{flagicon, GBR

Aramco-

, align="left", 13 , - !colspan=4, Source: {{col-end * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

{{reflist

External links

{{F1 race report , Name_of_race =

, Year_of_race = 2024 , Previous_race_in_season =

2024 Bahrain Grand Prix The 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2024) was a Formula One motor race held on 2 March 2024 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the opening round of the 2024 Form ...

, Next_race_in_season = 2024 Australian Grand Prix , Previous_year's_race = 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix , Next_year's_race = 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix {{F1GP 2020–29 Saudi Arabian

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

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