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Mercedes driver George Russell was left feeling satisfied with the performance he delivered across the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, though admitted that Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin “deserved” the podium he inherited.

Max Verstappen may have been happy with his performance at Sunday's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but the two-time world champion was still not pleased to finish second, calling on Red Bull to solve the reliability woes that affected their Jeddah weekend.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez scored a significant career first in Jeddah on Sunday, while Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso briefly looked to have secured his own F1 milestone. Here’s our round-up of these and the other fascinating figures thrown up by the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso may have celebrated his 100th rostrum appearance in F1 at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – but the joy was short-lived, after the stewards handed him a 10-second penalty after the race that dropped him to P4. Why? Well, let F1 TV presenter Alex Brundle explain all…

A technical problem on Saturday consigned the world champion to 15th on the grid in Jeddah, but boy did Max Verstappen recover in style on Sunday.

Sergio Perez sealed a fifth career Formula 1 victory after taking a dominant win in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, while also leading home a second Red Bull one-two finish to start the year.

Charles Leclerc was left to rue another challenging Grand Prix weekend for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, stating that the team have plenty of work to do if they are to get themselves in the front-running mix this season.

Fernando Alonso’s joy at taking his 100th Formula 1 penalty in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix turned sour on Sunday evening, after he was handed a 10-second time penalty for incorrectly serving a previous five-second time penalty.

Sergio Perez converted pole position into victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as team mate Max Verstappen recovered from P15 to make it successive one-two finishes for Red Bull, while Fernando Alonso put his Aston Martin on the podium again with another fine drive.

Fernando Alonso enjoyed a dream launch as the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix got under way, surging past Sergio Perez, who 24 hours previously had claimed his second career pole position at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Frederik Vesti took a memorable win in the Formula 2 Feature Race in Jeddah, battling his way through from sixth on the grid for victory. The Dane was locked in a close fight with Victor Martins but profited after the Frenchman spun out of the effective lead on Lap 17.

Amid another difficult start to the season, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has admitted that the W14 will soon look “very different” after they were “proven wrong” with their concept.

Live coverage of Sunday's Formula 1 stc Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023 in Jeddah.

George Russell ended 2022 with a first win in F1 and ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the standings. But the Briton reckons there’s more to come: “It was a good taste,” he says, “but I feel absolutely ready within myself and with the team I’ve got around me to fight.”

Chris Medland takes a look at the different pit stop and tyre options that are available to the teams on race day at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit...

Mercedes are in desperate need of all the help that they can get at the moment, with the team struggling to compete at the start of this season.

The W14’s design features the zero sidepod concept that the Silver Arrows used in 2022, a bold choice which has not paid off.

Team principal Toto Wolff has already admitted that his team will now be exploring a different development pathway and it has been rumoured that former technical director James Allison has returned to the team to oversee the next batch of upgrades.

Allison is not the only staff change at Mercedes however, with former F1 driver Jerome D’Ambrosio now being appointed by the team.

READ: ‘Prohibited and unrealistic’: Red Bull rubbish Mercedes engine rumour

Toto Wolff has now explained what the Belgian’s role will be with Mercedes, with D’Ambrosio set to take on some of the responsibilities vacated former strategic director and new Williams team principal James Vowles.

“Jerome is taking over some of James’ topics. He’s looking after the young driver programme in very close co-operation with Gwen [Lagrue], who has been doing it very successfully over the last few years with Gwen’s team,” he explained.

“We are looking at grassroots motorsports from the early stages of go-karts and this is where Gwen is very active, and he was the one working with James and now within the Brackley structure Jerome has taken that over.

“He’s looking at things and there’s plenty of scope that James did beyond the strategy work, so I see Jerome growing in the organisation but, at this stage, that’s his area.”

Lewis Hamilton backtracks after demanding Mercedes apology https://t.co/e90mXI2NjS

— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) March 18, 2023

READ: Lando Norris makes Aston Martin and Ferrari prediction in Red Bull fight

Mercedes will be hoping that their off-track changes affect their performances on track, with the Silver Arrows currently struggling to even compete for podiums.

Following P5 and P7 finishes in Bahrain, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will begin the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from P7 and P3, giving them a reasonable chance to score their first podium of the year.

Issues and penalties will see Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen stat in the bottom ten in Jeddah, meaning that the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has potential to be one of the most exciting races of the season.

The post Toto Wolff reveals new signing will ‘take over’ some of James Vowles’ responsibilities appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

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Looking good!

Statistics: Posted by cesar418 — Sun Mar 19, 2023 11:25 pm

In the round-up: Albon had 'best car since I joined Williams' before retirement • Hamilton "still super-close" with Cullen • Ferrari "can't be satisfied" with result - Vasseur