The second round of the 2024 Formula 1 season may have appeared very much like the first in that it was not the most thrilling of race, but there was plenty going on during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix if you looked under the surface.
From drivers facing penalties to a debating about their strategies to even a moment of frustration late in the race for winner Max Verstappen there was a lot unfolding over the 50 laps of the race.
Here are some of the key moments you might have missed last weekend as they played out over team radio.
Norris gets away with one
Aside from Alpine driver Pierre Gasly suffering a gearbox problem on the formation lap, Lando Norris provided another moment of drama before the race had officially begun. He was clearly moving in his grid slot as the lights extinguished, which appeared to all the world that he would be hit with a jump start penalty.
Norris seemed to know it too, as he appeared to check with race engineer Will Joseph whether or not “I’ve got nothing to worry about” during the Safety Car:
| Lap: 7/50 NOR: 2’07.025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norris | Pace feels pretty fast… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joseph | ‘Yellow flag at turn 22-23, Stroll’s in the barrier. Safety Car deployed. Safety Car deployed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norris | Is he good? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joseph | Haven’t seen. I’ll get an update. Yes, he’s all good and out. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norris | And. Everything else is all good? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joseph | Everything else is all good. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norris | So I’ve got nothing to worry about? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joseph | Not currently. I’m not worried. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norris | We staying out? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joseph | And you are the second car. So Lando you’d give up places to six cars, coming out ahead of Hulkenberg behind the group of Tsunoda, Bearman, Magnussen… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Norris was one of two drivers towards the front of the field, along with Lewis Hamilton, who opted to stay out under Safety Car. He quickly realised he would have a lot of work to do when the race went green again:
| Lap: 8/50 NOR: 2’54.005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norris | I guess everyone boxed? So I wouldn’t have lost… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joseph | ‘And there’s a recovery vehicle on-track. So Hamilton stayed out and Hulkenberg stayed out. The others fitted the hard. And the recovery vehicle is on track. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norris | Okay, so let’s have a clear plan. Do we have a target? I need to judge everything off the target, so. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joseph | Yeah. I’ll get back to you. So we’re thinking plan a target plus five. Plan A target plus five. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norris | Yeah okay. It could start to be tough if I’m going to just get overtaken, which is quite likely. So depends what that does to us. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joseph | Yeah. Understood. It could change as we go… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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