MAX VERSTAPPEN wins the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Sergio Perez led the cars away from the lights and seemed comfortably in control up until the Mexican boxed for fresh rubber just the one lap too early - when the Safety Car was brought out allowing the three following cars to leapfrog him in the pits.

The order of the top four was flipped on its head from here, as Perez was pushed down to fourth while Leclerc and Verstappen jumped to first and second.

The two leaders ran away with the lead from here and were fighting tooth and nail up until the final lap of the race, when Verstappen took full advantage of his DRS to pass Leclerc leaving Leclerc with no time to respond.

The battle for the win was more than one of pure driving, it was also tactical. With neither driver wanting to give up DRS heading onto the main straight both Verstappen and Leclerc found themselves in a bit of a showdown – resulting in both drivers nearly coming to a halt and locking their tyres.

Mercedes struggles also carried on from the opening weekend in Bahrain, where they scored an unlikely podium. The team was not competitive enough for a podium this weekend though, and they found themselves in both the midfield battle and the battle for fifth.

George Russell made some spectacular moves to get up the field but for Hamilton, it was a weekend to forget. The 7x world champion started the race in 15th and found himself as high as sixth – two retirements from Alonso and Ricciardo forced the pitlane to be closed and meant Hamilton could not box for fresh rubber under a virtual safety car.

Lewis Hamilton was forced to box later than he would have liked and came out of the pitlane in 12th. He was able to climb up to 10th in the remaining laps of the race – and it was the first time since Korea 2012 that he has finished in 10th place.

The weekend was not great for Mercedes-powered teams as both Williams were forced to retire and Ricciardo was struck with an engine issue – whilst the Aston Martins finished rock bottom.

The results from the race put Ferrari at the lead of the constructors with a large gap to Mercedes in second, while Red Bull are just one point off of Mercedes despite scoring zero points in the opening weekend.

For the driver championship, Leclerc leads the table by a comfortable margin of 12 points, with Carlos Sainz in second and Max Verstappen in third despite only scoring points once this season.