Pit-stop disasters and Hamilton gesture - 5 things you may have missed at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton, Oliver Bearman, Mercedes, Ferrari, Saudi Arabia, 2024, Screengrab — Photo: © IMAGO

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Pit-stop disasters and Hamilton gesture - 5 things you may have missed at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix wasn’t all about Red Bull’s domination...

By Shay Rogers.

Sunday 10 March 2024 18:00

Red Bull secured their second consecutive 1-2 finish at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but that doesn’t mean that the entire event was a snoozefest.

From Ollie Bearman’s exciting Formula 1 debut to Yuki Tsunoda ignoring Sky Sports’ Simon Lazenby and even Nico Hulkenberg’s heroic Haas effort, there’s plenty you may have missed.

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Here at GPFans, we were keeping an eye on the best moments that might not have got the full credit they deserve.

1.Hamilton shares kind moment with Bearman

The Brit, who is now the third youngest driver in the sport’s history, will now have his eyes set on a 2025 drive.

Fellow countryman and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who only finished ninth during the grand prix himself, came over to congratulate the Chelmsford-born star in Parc Ferme post-race.

They shared a hug, with the wholesome moment caught by the world feed as the drivers were walking away from their cars to be weighed.

2. Tsunoda brushes Lazenby aside

Yuki Tsunoda has enjoyed an impressive start compared with experienced team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in the first two events of 2024.

Five places higher than the Aussie in qualifying was as good as his weekend got as his RB car lost pace in race trim.

Speaking to Sky Sports pre-race, Tsunoda appeared to ignore presenter Simon Lazenby as they finished a conversation before the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

It was an almost unsalvageable situation for Lazenby, who had to quickly recompose himself and continue with his duties after being left hanging by the Japanese driver.

3. Hulkenberg snatches crucial Haas point

Last season, points were of a premium for Haas, who wound up finishing plum last in the constructors’ championship after a difficult year.

This season, they have made marked improvements in race pace and tyre life, which is helping them to stay in contention throughout grands prix.

Kevin Magnussen came to the aid of team-mate Nico Hulkenberg this week, after receiving two ten-second time penalties, he backed the rest of the midfield up to allow the ‘Hulk’ to create a gap and stop for fresh tyres while still coming out ahead of everyone.

The plan was executed perfectly, and with such a big disparity between the top and bottom half of the field this season – the point they secured could be crucial, leaving them sixth in the standings for now.

4. Sauber’s second straight pitstop fail

We all thought it was Valtteri Bottas that was the king of long pitstops, but it appears that we may have had the wrong suspects all along.

For the second consecutive week, his Sauber team experienced more delays in the pitlane as Zhou Guanyu made a late dive for a set of soft tyres.

The front right wheel failed to connect properly with the car, leaving the team scrambling as time leaked away while they were stationary.

It didn’t matter much in the end, with both cars the last classified runners – a reminder that Sauber has work to do on and off the track across the next 22 races.

5. Gasly 21st in a 20-man championship

Alpine are suffering their worst start to a Formula 1 season in recent memory with both cars eliminated in Q1 across the first two grands prix.

It’s not just their speed that has taken a hit, with reliability the reason for Pierre Gasly’s lap two retirement in Jeddah after a gearbox issue.

It means that after Ollie Bearman’s stunning debut that Gasly is now 21st in a 20-man championship – a stat that he will be keen to improve on.

It’s hard to see where things may improve for Alpine, but investors will be demanding an upturn in results for a team who have often promised so much and delivered so little.

Red Bull Yuki Tsunoda Nico Hulkenberg Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Ollie Bearman