Analysis: 'Verstappen can taste his third world title'

If the competition fails to close the yawning gap, Max Verstappen could almost taste his third world title. Unless Sergio Perez can make things really difficult for the Dutchman. In Jeddah, Aston Martin, relative to race winner Sergio perez, was 20.7 seconds behind, representing a difference of 0.69 seconds per lap.

Aston Martin has passed Mercedes

Lawrence Stroll's team outperformed Mercedes. The Germans finished 25.8 seconds behind Perez, equivalent to a gap of 0.86 seconds per lap. Remember when, then Racing Point, came up with a 'pink Mercedes' just to get a little closer to the mighty Mercedes? How different it is now. Aston Martin is clearly faster than the team of Toto Wolff and co. So will we soon see a 'black Aston Martin'?

Embarrassing figures for Ferrari

After that, things get quite embarrassing. Ferrari seemed to be in no-man's land in Saudi Arabia. Charles Leclerc dreamed of a world title in the iconic red car after the disappointing 2022. In reality, the Monegasque will have to be happy with a podium finish. The Italians lost by 35.8 seconds. That means a gap of 1.19 seconds per lap on Red Bull.

Disappointment at Alpine

And the rest? Alpine actually wanted to narrow the gap to the top, but in reality the gap only widened. Esteban Ocon was flagged off at 52.8 seconds behind Perez. That amounts to a difference of 1.76 seconds per lap. A huge bummer for the French racing stable, who have for years had ambitions to return to the team's dynasty of 2005 and 2006. The team will not be allowed to sniff that success this year either.

AlphaTauri and McLaren far away

The remaining five teams have to fight for the last points to be given away. They are more than two seconds per lap behind Max Verstappen and co. Haas had a deficit of 2.16 seconds per lap, Alpha Tauri 2.25 seconds and McLaren ends the list with a very painful deficit of 2.83 seconds per lap.