With a second consecutive one-two finish in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen maintained Red Bull's strong start to the Formula One season. 

Under the floodlights of Jeddah Corniche, Mexican Sergio Perez finished second on Saturday. His quadruple world champion colleague finished first last year, 13.643 seconds behind. 

Verstappen, who won a record 19 of 22 races the previous year, had never taken the lead in the opening two races of a season before. 

For Ferrari, Charles Leclerc took third place, gaining a bonus point for the quickest lap and his first podium of the year. 

The victory was a ninth in a row for Verstappen, dating back to Japan last September, and the 56th of the 26-year-old Dutch driver’s career. 

It was also his 100th career podium while Red Bull’s 115th win lifted them ahead of Williams in fourth place on the all-time list. 

“Overall, a fantastic weekend for the whole team and myself. I felt really good with the car and it was the same in the race,” Verstappen said. 

The United Kingdom’s Oliver Bearman, making his F1 race debut as Ferrari’s youngest-ever rookie at 18 years and 305 days old after Spaniard Carlos Sainz was sidelined by appendicitis, finished seventh and was voted Driver of the Day. 

“Today he’s been incredible,” said Leclerc of his temporary teammate. “It’s hugely impressive and I’m sure he’s extremely proud. Everybody has noticed how talented he is and I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before he’s in F1.” 

Oscar Piastri finished fourth for McLaren ahead of Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, George Russell of Mercedes and Bearman, with two more Britons, Lando Norris and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, taking eighth and ninth for McLaren and Mercedes, with Nico Hulkenberg taking the final point for Haas. 

More physical competitions for Verstappen  

Verstappen described the race as "one of the more physical races, a tough one" following his tenth successive victory. 

After Lance Stroll of Aston Martin struck the wall and subsequently the barriers at turn 22, the safety car was brought out on lap seven. 

All but four drivers, including Norris and Hamilton, dove into the pits, but the Canadian escaped unscathed. 

After the new Aston Martin Vantage safety car returned to the pits on lap nine, Norris took the lead, but Verstappen regained the lead by lap 13 and continued to drive away. Norris was eventually absolved of any involvement in a suspected jumping start off the grid. 

Perez was handed a five-second penalty for an unsafe release from his first pitstop and Haas’s Kevin Magnussen collected a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Williams’ Alex Albon. 

The Dane was later handed another 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage but his main role was to create a sufficient gap behind Hulkenberg for the German to be able to pit and still finish with a precious point. 

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was told to pit and park on the opening lap due to a suspected gearbox issue, becoming the first retirement of the season after all 20 cars finished the opener in Bahrain a week earlier.