That was so close! Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc got within six-tenths of a second from world champion Max Verstappen. The Monegasque driver drove an absolutely flawless race but could not hold the raging Red Bull of Max.

Charles inherited the lead after the safety car on Lap 17 after pole-sitter Sergio Perez pitted just a lap before the safety car. From then on, he managed the race brilliantly ahead of Verstappen.

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But the race really livened up when the virtual safety car was brought in with just 10 laps to go. After that, the world champion had the straight-line speed to challenge Leclerc.

Charles Leclerc left frustrated after losing the Saudi Arabian GP

Verstappen and Leclerc tussled against each other after the safety car restart. After a lot of back and forth between the drivers, it was Max who prevailed. The Ferrari driver was understandably a bit frustrated on in lap but he congratulated the world champion on the team radio for the win.

“F**k. Well done to Max. That was nice!” said Charles.

” [The respect] has always been there. Especially when you finish a race like this. I mean, we are on a street track, we have been pushing like I really pushed before to the absolute limit. We take risks at the end, so of course, there is respect, but a bit disappointed,” said Charles after the race.

Charles Leclerc started the race from P2 after finishing behind Red Bull‘s Sergio Perez. The Ferrari driver looked quick throughout the weekend and led every practice session in Jeddah.

Although he went into the race without doing any race simulations in FP2, the Monegasque driver mentioned that he had done some long runs in FP3.

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Charles would have been a little afraid before the start of the race, as there were some issues with his teammate Carlos Sainz‘s car. But, fortunately for him, no such issues were found in his SF-75.