Motorsports
Sovereign in Jeddah: Ferstappen snatched first place from Leclerc for the first win of the season
Max Ferstappen managed to claim victory in the second game of the season at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, three laps before the final, by passing Leclerc. Saint’s podium closed while polesitter Sergio Perez finished fourth.
The second match of the year at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was agony right up to the last moment. Max Ferstappen is his winner in Jeddah, overtaking Charles Leclerc, who seemed to have the first word in the fight, with three laps to go.
Ferrari made it 2-3 in Saudi Arabia with Sainth in 3rd place to start from. Bad luck for Sergio Perez, who lost the lead when he substituted just before the safety car.
In the drivers’ standings, Leclerc is in first place with 44 points. Saint is second with 25 points while Max Ferstappen is in 3rd place with 25 points.
The league standings:
Where the win was counted
After a virtual safety car, due to the abandonment of Alonso and Ricciardo, the gap between Leclerc and Ferstappen decreased. The Dutch driver approached Monegasco and attacked.
The Ferrari driver, using his engine power but also his skills, successfully defended himself in the first phase, because although he temporarily lost the first position, he managed to regain it.
On the 47th lap, Max Ferstappen overtook Leclerc to the finish and gave his opponent no space. In fact, the Dutchman continued with faster laps and tried to increase his gap.
The phase of the game
The start at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was clear. Perez held his position with no problems while Leclerc couldn’t make a move. On the other hand, Ferstappen was able to work his way up to 3rd place and overtook Carlos Saint.
On the 15th lap, Perez came into the pits. He was unlucky coming in for a tire change just before the Latifi crash that caused the safety car. Thus, his opponents took advantage of the fact that Leclerc finished first and Ferstappen second. It was the moment that changed the dates regarding the development of the game.
Perez lost the lead of the race to a Ferrari bluff. The Scuderia brought the engineers into the pit lane and hinted that Leclerc’s pit stop for the undercut was imminent, but he soon called them back and left the pit stop to Perez alone.
What follows
After races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Formula 1 travels to Australia. It will be the first race at Albert Park since 2019 when Valteri Botas won.
The Australian Grand Prix will take place in two weeks from now on the three days from April 8th to 10th, 2022.
Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.
Red Bull Formula 1 team president Laurent Mekies believes the Bulls will be behind their rivals at the start of the 2026 season, given the production of their engines and new aerodynamic rules.
“We know it will be difficult for us, especially at the beginning of the season. I think we will fall behind our rivals, but we need to hold on for a few more months.”
“I hope we come back to the top, but it would be naive to think that Red Bull will be ahead right away. We will be behind at the start,” said Mekis.
Bulls will produce its engines in collaboration with Ford from 2026.
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
After several significant personnel changes in the team, Max Verstappen has finally learned who he will be working with in the Red Bull pits for the new season.
At the end of last year, it became known that three key members of the four-time world champion’s headquarters had left. According to De Telegraaf, Jeff Ayton replaced Verstappen’s vehicle control engineer Michael Manning, who left the team after the 2025 season. He has previously worked with other Red Bull drivers and worked temporarily with Verstappen in Manning’s absence last year.
Verstappen’s former engine mechanic David Mart has moved to Audi and his replacement at Red Bull has not yet been determined. Performance engineer Tom Hart is also leaving the team; He will join Williams but will continue to work with the Milton Keynes-based team for a while.
Changes also occurred among mechanics. After Matt Culler moved to the position of Audi’s chief mechanic, Verstappen was replaced as his first mechanic by his twin brother John Culler. He is well known to Max, who has previously held a similar position on the other side of the Red Bull pits, working alongside Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda.
Despite rumors about the winter break, Gianpiero Lambiase will remain Verstappen’s race engineer for another season.
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Photos of the allegedly leaked Ferrari F1 team jerseys for the 2026 season have appeared on the internet.
The published photos show a red T-shirt with white inserts.
Ferrari will officially announce its color on January 23. At the same time, some sources reported that the design of the 2026 car should be “pleasantly surprising”.
Given that Ferrari and other teams have used darker shades of their primary colors (red in the Scuderia’s case) in recent years, the introduction of red and white team uniforms could signal a move towards a lighter color scheme.
The same idea is put forward in a video published on the Scuderia’s official account.
2026 FERRARI PRODUCTS? 👀 pic.twitter.com/ClhblugnUh
— La Gazzetta Ferrari (@GazzettaFerrari) January 18, 2026
It’s just a matter of time⏱️ pic.twitter.com/SyykHCiHcw
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) January 18, 2026
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
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