Verstappen came close to executing another perfect race after his flawless evening in Bahrain one week earlier, but an early safety car for the crashed-out Lance Stroll shuffled him to second behind Lando Norris after lap 7 as most the field made their mandatory sole pit stops.
The break in Verstappen’s hold on top spot didn’t last long, however. It took just three laps after the grand prix resumed on lap 10 for the reigning champion to snake his way past the McLaren on the super fast street track, from which moment he was never headed in a gentle gallop to an easy victory.
“It was a very good race,” he said. “The whole weekend the car has been performing really well, probably a little bit better than expected even. Overall of course very pleased to win here.”
The victory was Verstappen’s 100th podium. It was also Red Bull Racing’s 115th win, taking it past the victory tally of the historic Williams team in just its 20th year in Formula 1.
“It’s 88 missed podiums!” Verstappen joked. “Of course I’m very happy with that.
“But I’m not really a guy looking at the stats. I’m just happy to hit 100, but I want to continue and just focus race by race on achieving the best possible result all the time.”
Teammate Pérez was a reliable second, up from third on the grid, after making short work of front row starter Charles Leclerc early in the race and then Norris and Lewis Hamilton after the safety car, with both Britons being shuffled forwards after choosing not to stop during the caution.
Pérez lamented his poor qualifying and time subsequently lost behind slower cars as costing him a shot at back-to-back victories in Jeddah after recording one of his better wins at this circuit last year.
“The race was quite strong today because we were able to make the progress from Friday to the race,” he said. “But I think qualifying we just went a step backwards, and that’s the main key from our weekend, to understand why we actually went slower than [in practice] when you correct for everything.
“It’s something we’ve got to understand the reasons behind it and make sure that we are able to keep progressing.”
With Pérez fast enough to totally negate a five-second penalty picked up for being unsafely released from his pit stop during the frenetic safety car period, Charles Leclerc was powerless but to accept third, with Ferrari again Red Bull Racing’s closest challenger but stuck several seconds down the road.
“We maximised everything today,” Leclerc said. “All in all it’s been a positive race.
“I think we are doing small steps in the right direction. If I look back the last six or seven months, we are the team that have improved the most and we are slowly closing the gap.
“The gap is still quite big, but if we keep working like that, I’m sure it’s a matter of time before we put the Red Bull under a bit more pressure.”
Oscar Piastri finished a strong fourth ahead of Fernando Alonso after putting a robust around-the-outside move on the Spaniard early in the race. Alonso in turn was left defending against George Russell to hold fifth in the final laps of the grand prix.
Ferrari debutant Oliver Bearman scored superb points for seventh in an excellent debut. The F2 star exceeded expectations after being hauled from the junior series to replace Carlos Sainz just hours before final practice to surely put himself in the frame for a full-time set on the 2025 grid.
Sainz appeared in the paddock less than 24 hours after undergoing an appendectomy and intends to race at the Australian Grand Prix in two weeks.
Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton made late pit stops for soft tyres but didn’t have the pace to climb up the order, finishing eighth and ninth behind the rookie.
Nico Hülkenberg was a valuable 10th for the final point after teammate Kevin Magnussen played a perfectly judged midfield defence, holding back the closely matched cars behind him to open a gap for the German to pit into without dropping out of the points.
Thai driver Alex Albon finished 11th, up one place after Magnussen served a 20-second post-race penalty for causing a collision and passing off the track. Esteban Ocon finished 13th ahead of Logan Sargeant, Yuki Tsunoda, Daniel Ricciardo Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.
Pierre Gasly was the race’s only other retirement, pitting at the end of the first lap with suspected gearbox problems.