‘F1 against F2’: Huge pace difference between Red Bull and Mercedes exposed at Saudi GP

Red Bull Racing clinched their second straight 1-2 finish of the F1 2023 season during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023 at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Sunday. While Sergio Perez won his first race of the 2023 season, Max Verstappen drove a spectacular drive, starting from P15 and finishing at P2. He split through the grid into the initial stages of the main race and maintained his P2 position for the majority of the race.

While the reigning World Champions bettered their position at the top of the Drivers and Constructors Championship standings, their pace advantage over teams like Mercedes were largely exposed in Jeddah. In a video currently going viral on social media, defending World Champion Max Verstappen can be seen overtaking seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton with ease at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Sharing the video on Twitter, ESPN said, "That looked like F1 against F2. The difference in pace between Red Bull and Mercedes”.

Watch: Red Bull’s pace advantage over Mercedes exposed at Saudi Arabia GP

"That looked like F1 against F2."

The difference in pace between Red Bull and Mercedes 😳 pic.twitter.com/mqO8e0s1qM

— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1)

George Russell & Mercedes denied maiden podium finish in F1 2023 season

After the race, it looked like Mercedes clinched their maiden podium finish of the year after Fernando Alonso was handed a 10-second penalty after the race for not serving a previous penalty properly. This led to George Russell being promoted up the order to P3 but dropped down back to fourth after FIA reversed the penalty on the two-time World Champion. In the meantime, seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton finished the race at P5 ahead of the Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

Meanwhile, Red Bull’s pace advantage over the other constructors on the 2023 grid can be further supported by the fact that Verstappen finished P2 after starting from P15, while the Ferrari star Charles Leclerc managed to finish P6 despite starting from P12. Red Bull’s undeniable pace so far in the season suggests they can certainly keep their dominance intact and win yet another championship this year. At the same time, after Round 2, Aston Martin also look to be promising to fight against Mercedes and Ferrari.