Add Category
Max Verstappen has made it consecutive wins to start his Formula 1 world championship defence, while Oscar Piastri took fourth at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.
Verstappen was never truly threatened around the streets of Jeddah, finishing ahead of teammate Sergio Perez and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc who rounded out the podium.
The Dutchman was in a league of his own on Sunday morning (AEDT), converting pole position into his 56th career win and extending his lead at the start of the championship season.
Verstappen, like most drivers, completed the last 43 laps on a hard set of tyres which was the biggest challenge to the Dutchman.
"I think overall a fantastic weekend for the whole team but also for myself as I felt great in the car," Verstappen said.
"The last few laps with the backmarkers and old tyres was a bit slippery, but we could manage it with the gap behind.
"Ideally you don't want to do such a long stint with the tyre but we had to."
Verstappen's victory is his ninth grand prix in a row, dating back to last September's Japanese Grand Prix.
The Dutchman holds the record for the most consecutive grands prix won, winning 10 straight last year from the Miami Grand Prix to the Italian Grand Prix.
LoadingFrom pole, Verstappen made a perfect start off the line, staying ahead of Leclerc who joined him on the front row.
The Dutchman was comfortably in front when a safety car was called on lap 7 following Aston Martin's Lance Stroll crashing into the barrier at high speed.
All but four drivers pitted under the safety car, with Norris and Hamilton staying out to move up for first and third respectively.
Verstappen spent three laps behind Norris before retaking the lead on lap 13.
Once Norris was cleared it was smooth sailing for Verstappen who was hardly seen on the television broadcast, such was his stranglehold on the race.
After two races this season, Verstappen leads the drivers' championship by 15 points to Perez.
Meanwhile, Piastri was solid for McLaren coming home fourth in a fine display.
The Melbourne-born driver jumped ahead of his teammate Lando Norris from the start and climbed into the top four in the early stages.
The safety car demoted the Australian to sixth as Norris and Lewis Hamilton did not pit.
Not satisfied with waiting for Hamilton and Norris to pit to overtake them, Piastri did what he could to make the overtake on track.
But the Australian could not get past Hamilton, as the pair engaged in a battle around Jeddah that lasted more than 20 laps.
Being held up behind Hamilton took away any outside chance of Piastri finishing on the podium.
"Just didn't have enough straight line speed to do anything," Piastri told Sky Sports UK, reflecting on his battle with Hamilton.
"I think Mercedes were also one of the quickest cars in a straight line this weekend, so that made life much tougher than I wanted it to."
Sports content to make you think... or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Friday.