The defending champion grabbed the spoils by just half a second after a DRS-enhanced slipstreaming dice with Leclerc in the second half of the contest on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, after the Ferrari racer tried again to tactically out manoeuvre Verstappen on track.
But the Dutch racer held on for victory as Ferrari scored a double podium, Carlos Sainz completing the rostrum while an ill-timed pitstop dropped polesitter Sergio Perez to fourth.
The Red Bulls appeared to enjoy the stronger launches as Perez pulled over to cover second-starting Leclerc into Turn 1 but was largely unchallenged as Verstappen provided stiff competition to Sainz.
As Sainz had to keep conservative to miss the rear of his teammate at the first left-hander, Verstappen was able to tip-toe around the outside as the track snaked back for Turn 2.
Verstappen out-dragged the Ferrari to take third place, while Perez escaped to an early 1.3s lead over Leclerc in the opening two laps with Verstappen the same…
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