The 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024) was a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

motor race held on 9 March 2024 at the

Jeddah Corniche Circuit The Jeddah Corniche Circuit () is a motor racing street circuit built in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia. The circuit staged the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on 5 December 2021 as the penultimate race on the Formula One ...

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. The race was the second round of the

2024 Formula One World Championship The 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula One cars and was the 75th running of the Formula One World Championship. It was recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the gov ...

Max Verstappen Max Emilian Verstappen (; born 30 September 1997) is a Dutch and Belgian racing driver who competes under the Dutch flag in Formula One for Red Bull Racing. Verstappen has won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he w ...

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 ra ...

, 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 Formula Two (F2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 to 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name returned aga ...

driver

Oliver Bearman Oliver James Bearman (; born 8 May 2005) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Haas F1 Team, Haas. Born in London and raised in Chelmsford, Bearman began competitive kart racing aged seven, winning several national and cont ...

, who substituted for Carlos Sainz Jr. at

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

. 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 () is an annual 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, at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, where it is schedule ...

. The Grand Prix was scheduled for a Saturday to accommodate

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

, 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 racing driver, who most recently competed in Formula One from to . Pérez was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Red Bull, and won Gr ...

in second, and 11 from Carlos Sainz Jr. in third.

Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing and also known simply as Red Bull or RBR, is a Formula One racing team, List of Formula One constructors#Team's nationality, competing under an Austrian racing licence and based in ...

led the Constructors' Championship over

by 17 points, and Mercedes by 28 points.

Entrants

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

reserve and

driver

replaced Carlos Sainz Jr. starting from the third free practice session, after Sainz was diagnosed with

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

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 an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...

brought the C2, C3, and C4 tyre compounds (the middle three in their range) designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.

Practice

Three

free practice Formula One race weekend refers to an auto racing event which takes place over three days (usually Friday to Sunday), with a series of practice and qualifying sessions prior to the race on Sunday. Current regulations provide for two free practi ...

sessions were held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 7 March 2024, at 16:30 local time (

UTC+3 UTC+03:00 is an identifier for a UTC offset, time offset from UTC of +03:00. In areas using this time offset, the time is three hours ahead of the Coordinated Universal Time, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Following the ISO 8601 standard, ...

), and was topped by

ahead of

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin in Formula One, Aston Martin. Alonso has won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with ...

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...

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 Mercedes 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 Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc (; born 16 October 1997) is a Monégasque racing driver who competes in Formula One for Ferrari. Leclerc was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari, and has won Grands ...

and Verstappen's teammate Pérez. The session was red-flagged after

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG, currently competing in Formula One as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, and also known simply as Kick Sauber or Sauber, is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who pro ...

Zhou Guanyu Zhou Guanyu (, pronounced ; born 30 May 1999) is a Chinese racing driver, who serves as a reserve driver in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari. Zhou competed in Formula One from to , and remains the only Chinese driver to compete in For ...

lost control of his car and crashed into the barriers, but was resumed after necessary repairs to the barriers were carried out.

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on 8 March 2024, at 20:00 local time (

Qualifying classification

Notes * –

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 (

), 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. Before the race, on the formation lap,

Pierre Gasly Pierre Jean-Jacques Gasly (; born 7 February 1996) is a French racing driver who competes in Formula One for Alpine. Gasly won the 2020 Italian Grand Prix with AlphaTauri. Born and raised in Normandy, Gasly began competitive kart racing age ...

reported gearbox issues which forced him to retire before the start of the race.

Lance Stroll Lance Strulovitch (; born 29 October 1998), commonly known as Lance Stroll (), is a Canadian racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin. Born and raised in Montreal, Stroll is the son of billionaire businessman Lawrence Stroll ...

retired on lap 7 due to a crash at Turn 23 which brought out a safety car.

Kevin Magnussen Kevin Jan Magnussen (; born 5 October 1992) is a Danish racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for W Racing Team, WRT and the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, RLL as a factory driver f ...

of Haas accumulated 20 seconds worth of penalties. One of these was a 10-second penalty for a collision with

Alexander Albon Alexander Albon Ansusinha (; born 23 March 1996) is a Thai and British racing driver who competes under the Thai flag in Formula One for Williams. Born in Westminster and raised in Suffolk, Albon is the son of English racing driver Nigel A ...

, and the other 10-second penalty was for overtaking

Yuki Tsunoda is a Japanese racing driver who competes in Formula One for Red Bull Racing. Born in Sagamihara and raised in Tokyo, Tsunoda began competitive kart racing aged nine. Supported by Honda since 2016 through the , Tsunoda graduated to junior formu ...

off-track. Knowing that he was unlikely to finish in the points, the team ordered him to focus on defense during the wide parts of the circuit, and drive as slowly as possible in the narrow parts of the circuit while overtaking is most difficult. With Magnussen backing up the drivers behind, teammate

Nico Hülkenberg Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German racing driver who competes in Formula One for Sauber. In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Hülkenberg won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2015 with Por ...

successfully finished tenth and earned his and Haas' first point of the season. Polesitter

won the race ahead of teammate

, marking a second straight 12 for

, with

in third with one extra point for the fastest lap. This marked Verstappen's 100th career podium.

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

Oscar Piastri Oscar Jack Piastri ( ; born 6 April 2001) is an Australian racing driver who competes in Formula One for McLaren. Piastri has won Formula One Grands Prix across three seasons. Born and raised in Melbourne, Piastri began his career in radio-co ...

finished fourth with

in fifth. Mercedes' George Russell finished sixth with Ferrari debutant

in seventh. They were followed by

Lando Norris Lando Norris (; born 13 November 1999) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for McLaren. Norris was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with McLaren, and has won Formula One Grands Prix, Grands Prix ...

, who briefly led the Grand Prix, in eighth, and

Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—tied with M ...

in ninth, after both drivers attempted an alternate tyre strategy.

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. * –

finished 11th, but received two ten-second time penalties. The first was for causing a collision with

, and the second was for leaving the track and gaining an advantage while overtaking

. * –

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 ,

Honda RBPT The Japanese automobile manufacturer Honda has participated in Formula One, as an engine manufacturer and team owner, for various periods since 1964. They have been active as engine manufacturers since , producing the RA Series Hybrid power ...

, align="left", 87 , - , align="left", 1rightarrow blue

, align="center", 2 ,

, align="left", 49 , - , align="left", 1uparrow green

1 , align="center", 3 ,

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

1 , align="center", 4 , {{nowrap, {{flagicon, GER Mercedes , align="left", 26 , - , align="left", 1rightarrow blue

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

Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ') or Aramco (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a majority state-owned petroleum and natural gas company that is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. , it is the fourth- lar ...

- Mercedes , 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 , 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 The 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2025) was a Formula One motor race held on 20 April 2025 at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It was the fifth round of the 2025 ...

{{F1GP 2020–29 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...