Max Verstappen defeated Charles Leclerc by 0.549 seconds to win a tense 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Sergio Perez led from pole position but a badly-timed Safety Car on Lap 16 dropped Perez to fourth as Leclerc, Verstappen and Carlos Sainz all leapfrogged him into the top three with a free pit stop.
Once the Safety Car was withdrawn, Leclerc fended off Verstappen even despite a late Virtual Safety Car due to breakdowns for Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso due to power and cooling issues.
Upon the second restart, Verstappen pushed Leclerc despite briefly claiming the lead at the end of Lap 42 but was able to complete a race-winning overtake into Turn One five laps later and clung on to win by only 0.549s.
Sainz, Perez and George Russell rounded out the top five ahead of Esteban Ocon, Lando Norris, Pierre Gasly, Kevin Magnussen and Lewis Hamilton who completed the top ten.
Hamilton also achieved a new record of having made the most race starts for a single team in this race which marked his 180th start for Mercedes, which breaks Michael Schumacher’s record 179 race record for Ferrari.
In the driver standings, Leclerc now leads Sainz by 12 points with Verstappen up to third after having retired in Bahrain, as Russell and Hamilton rounded out the top five.
After his heavy crash during Qualifying yesterday (26 March), Mick Schumacher was withdrawn from the race by Haas whilst Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri broke down on the way to the grid, meaning that only 18 drivers took the race start.
At lights out, Perez got a clean start to lead Leclerc as Verstappen swiftly cleared Sainz into the opening corner to take third with the top eight initially holding order, whilst Magnussen overtook Gasly bravely around Turn Eight..
Russell snatched fifth from Ocon on Lap Three which triggered a tense tussle at Alpine over sixth as Ocon fought Alonso, with the Spaniard eventually winning out over Ocon on Lap Eight after he initially cut Turn One a lap earlier only to concede position.
Hamilton meanwhile played the long game in the opening stages until a Safety Car elevated him to seventh due to him opting to start , after Latifi crashed at the final corner on Lap 15.
Perez up front had just pitted after Red Bull were bluffed into an early stop for the Mexican by Leclerc and Ferrari, who reaped the benefits of the Safety Car to claim the lead one lap later as he and several others pitted for hard tyres.
Once the race resumed on Lap 21, Leclerc headed Verstappen in a dramatic race-long tussle to the checkered flag, whilst Perez conceded third to Sainz after forcing the Spaniard wide as he exited the pits during the Safety Car.
Leclerc held Verstappen at a gap of around 1.5 seconds until Alonso and Ricciardo both grinded to a halt with power and cooling issues at the pit entry on Lap 37, which triggered a Virtual Safety Car and cost Hamilton a free stop as the pit entry was consequently closed.
The race resumed on Lap 41 with Verstappen placing Leclerc under immense pressure until he forced his way past into Turn 27 on Lap 42, only for Leclerc to get the switchback and DRS to retake the lead at the start of the next lap.
Verstappen however swiftly regrouped and was able to get past Leclerc with DRS into Turn One on Lap 47 for the lead, which eventually became victory three laps later as he saw off the Monegasque by 0.549s with Sainz seeing off Perez for third.
Russell finished fifth ahead of Ocon who beat Norris to sixth by just 0.107s as Gasly, Magnussen and Hamilton rounded out the top ten.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 50 | 1h 24m 19.293 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 50 | + 0.549 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 50 | + 8.097 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 50 | + 10.800 |
| 5 | George Russell | Mercedes | 50 | + 32.732 |
| 6 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 50 | + 56.017 |
| 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 50 | + 56.124 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 50 | + 62.946 |
| 9 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 50 | + 64.308 |
| 10 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 50 | + 73.948 |
| 11 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 50 | + 82.215 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Aston Martin | 50 | + 91.742 |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 49 | + 1 Lap |
| RET | Alex Albon | Williams | 47 | Collision |
| RET | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 36 | Mechanical |
| RET | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 35 | Cooling |
| RET | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 35 | Power |
| RET | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 15 | Crash |
| DNS | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 0 | Mechanical |
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