Verstappen edges out Leclerc for Saudi Arabian Grand Prix victory after intense battle in Jeddah

JEDDAH: Reigning Formula One world champion Max Verstappen won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday after an intense battle with Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc.

The Red Bull driver overtook Leclerc's Ferrari three laps from the end in Jeddah for his first win of the F1 season and the 21st of his career in a night of high drama.

The Dutchman and Monegasque, who have raced against each other since they were young karters, went back and forth in the closing stages of the race until the world champion managed to create a gap of just over half a second, which was enough for him to clinch the win.

Leclerc, who led teammate Carlos Sainz to a 1-2 podium finish for Ferrari last weekend in Bahrain, was denied a chance at a back-to-back win.

“Really happy we finally kick-started the season,” Verstappen said. “It was a really tough race but a good race. We were both battling hard at the front.”

Leclerc even congratulated his old karting rival on the radio and then gave him a thumbs-up after.

“We’ve been pushing like I’ve rarely pushed before, we take risks. Of course there’s respect,” Leclerc said. “I really enjoyed that race, it was hard racing but fair. Every race should be like this. It was fun, I wanted to win today."

Last year, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton won the race in Jeddah after he and Verstappen were the two drivers battling it out in an incident-heavy race. 

This time however the Briton started way down the grid after failing to qualify beyond Q1 on Saturday for the first time since 2017. The Briton managed to claim a points finish for Mercedes after climbing up to tenth. His Mercedes co-driver George Russell found himself mostly holding on to fifth position throughout the race until the chequered