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Stefan Tonev
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Perez keeps Verstappen behind as Red Bull stroll to another 1-2
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There was little to choose between the two Red Bull drivers pace-wise, but the early advantage gave Perez the lead despite Verstappen's fightback

Sergio Perez crossed the line first to clinch his 5th career victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen came home second with a solid drive from 15th on the grid to secure yet another 1-2 for Red Bull, who currently look untouchable.

Fernando Alonso, who briefly led in the opening stages, leapfroging Perez at the start, finished 3rd, but unfortunately for him dropped to 4th after receiving a post-race 10 seconds penalty for incorrectly serving a previous five-second penalty.

This robbed Alonso of his 100th career podium in otherwise another stellar performance from the Aston Martin team, who have firmly established themselves as the second best team, trailing only to Red Bull.

Lance Stroll in the sister Aston Martin had to pull to the side of the track on lap 18 with technical issue which brough out the Safety car. This meant the solid lead Perez had build, had evaporated and it was game on at the front. However, by the time Verstappen managed to dispatch Russel and Alonso, his teammate had rocketed to a 5-second lead, which remained pretty much unchanged for the rest of the race.

The only downside from Perez point of view is that his Dutch teammate managed to snatch away the fastest lap right at the dead and retain his championship lead by a single point.

With Alonso’s post-race penalty, George Russel got promoted to a podium spot. His experienced teammate Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top 5 with a lacklustre performance, despite having the benefit of the softer rubber after the Safety car.

Ferrari came next with Carlos Sainz in 6th and Charles Leclerc in 7th, a pretty disappointing day for the Scuderia who were beaten all round by the Aston Martins and the Mercedes, despite early promise from Leclerc swift progress in the opening stages.

The drivers’ attention now turns to Melbourne, which is the host of the third round of the 2023 World Championship in two weeks time.