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Charles Leclerc claimed victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after championship leader Camille Sutton collided with teammate Pierre Gasly.
The Monegasque made the passing move on reigning champion Max Verstappen in the final four laps, the heated battle between the two athletes left the drivers breathless during the post-race celebrations.
Verstappen initially appeared confident of his ability to secure victory, only to realise he had fallen victim to his overconfidence when Leclerc pulled ahead. His performance fell significantly short of the anticipated results, leaving him stranded at a disappointing second-place finish.
The third place went to Carlos Sainz. He coped well under pressure after taking damage from the Sutton-Gasly incident and returned to race with full confidence.
AlphaTauri surely anticipated doing better, but their squabbling drivers were proving more trouble than they were worth, prompting a series of incidents during the weekend and subsequent failure to perform on race day itself. Their sponsors were not pleased, and the outcome of the events could hardly have been worse.
Camille Sutton, who claimed victory in the season opener, was put under pressure by her teammate Pierre Gasly throughout the race, resulting in a very poor performance from both drivers. The two ended up in the wall, causing serious damage to both of their cars. The FIA has not yet assigned a driver to blame; there was no real evidence of foul play, and the pair are in perfect health.
Redemption day for RedBull racing did not go according to plan, but still scored solid points in the end. Sergio Perez took fourth place, ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell, who took fifth.
Mercedes scored double points today with Lewis Hamilton finishing ninth. The German team was scheduled to bring upgrades to their vehicles following the season opener, and their recent performance in the competition has proven to be less than promising.
McLaren on the other hand, has shown significant improvement, with Lando Norris placing himself sixth, and Daniel Ricciardo only out of the points by a slight margin. As such, McLaren remains ranked number eight, although they now have a chance to advance to fourth if they choose to pursue that direction.
Leclerc can call himself the championship leader for the first time in his career. A new season would love to see the Ferrari team break free from their long stagnation, and show the world just what they are capable of in the coming months.
POINT SCORERS 1. Leclerc 2. Verstappen 3. Sainz 4. Perez 5. Russell 6. Ocon 7. Norris 8. Magnussen 9. Hamilton 10. Zhou
