The timing of two interruptions – one a Safety Car period, another a VSC – had a decisive effect on the outcome of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The first one played badly against early race leader Sergio Perez. He’d already pitted when it came out, and his three closest pursuers were all able to overhaul him by diving for the pits, dumping him off the podium.
As 15 of the 18 starters (Mick Schumacher having withdrawn and Yuki Tsunoda suffered a pre-race power unit problem) lined up on mediums, almost all of them pitted around this time. The other three who started on hards stayed out, hoping for a further disruption later in the race which they could take advantage of.
They got it when Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo retired simultaneously. But only two of them – Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg – made it into the pits before it was closed. Lewis Hamilton didn’t, and his pit stop undid the work he’d done climbing into the points places.
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The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
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Lewis Hamilton
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George Russell
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Max Verstappen
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Sergio Perez
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Charles Leclerc
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Carlos Sainz Jnr
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Lando Norris
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Daniel Ricciardo
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Esteban Ocon
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Fernando Alonso
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Pierre Gasly
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Yuki Tsunoda
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Lance Stroll
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Nico Hulkenberg
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Alexander Albon
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Nicholas Latifi
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Valtteri Bottas
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Zhou Guanyu
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Mick Schumacher
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Kevin Magnussen
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The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
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Lewis Hamilton
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George Russell
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Max Verstappen
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Sergio Perez
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Charles Leclerc
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Carlos Sainz Jnr
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Lando Norris
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Daniel Ricciardo
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Esteban Ocon
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Fernando Alonso
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Pierre Gasly
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Yuki Tsunoda
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Lance Stroll
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Nico Hulkenberg
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Alexander Albon
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Nicholas Latifi
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Valtteri Bottas
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Zhou Guanyu
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Mick Schumacher
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Kevin Magnussen
All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:
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Lewis Hamilton
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George Russell
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Max Verstappen
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Sergio Perez
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Charles Leclerc
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Carlos Sainz Jnr
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Lando Norris
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Daniel Ricciardo
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Esteban Ocon
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Fernando Alonso
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Pierre Gasly
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Yuki Tsunoda
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Lance Stroll
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Nico Hulkenberg
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Alexander Albon
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Nicholas Latifi
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Valtteri Bottas
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Zhou Guanyu
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Mick Schumacher
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Kevin Magnussen
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Each driver’s fastest lap:
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The tyre strategies for each driver:
Stint 1 Stint 2 Stint 3 Max Verstappen C3 (16) C2 (34) Charles Leclerc C3 (16) C2 (34) Carlos Sainz Jnr C3 (16) C2 (34) Sergio Perez C3 (15) C2 (35) George Russell C3 (16) C2 (34) Esteban Ocon C3 (16) C2 (34) Lando Norris C3 (16) C2 (34) Pierre Gasly C3 (15) C2 (35) Kevin Magnussen C2 (37) C3 (13) Lewis Hamilton C2 (40) C3 (10) Zhou Guanyu C3 (16) C2 (34) Nico Hulkenberg C2 (37) C3 (13) Lance Stroll C3 (13) C2 (36) Alexander Albon C3 (13) C2 (34) Valtteri Bottas C3 (16) C2 (19) C3 (1) Fernando Alonso C3 (16) C2 (19) Daniel Ricciardo C3 (8) C2 (27) Nicholas Latifi C3 (14) Yuki Tsunoda Mick Schumacher
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How long each driver’s pit stops took:
Driver Team Pit stop time Gap On lap 1 Lando Norris McLaren 20.383 16 2 Sergio Perez Red Bull 20.481 0.098 15 3 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 20.650 0.267 8 4 Alexander Albon Williams 20.683 0.300 13 5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 20.731 0.348 16 6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 21.038 0.655 16 7 Esteban Ocon Alpine 21.141 0.758 16 8 George Russell Mercedes 21.415 1.032 16 9 Nico Hulkenberg Aston Martin 21.425 1.042 37 10 Carlos Sainz Jnr Ferrari 21.521 1.138 16 11 Fernando Alonso Alpine 21.543 1.160 16 12 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 21.788 1.405 40 13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 22.339 1.956 13 14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 22.374 1.991 37 15 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 22.561 2.178 16 16 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 22.710 2.327 35 17 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 22.820 2.437 15 18 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 33.734 13.351 16Browse all 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix articles