A delighted Max Verstappen reflected on his "very rewarding" win at the French Grand Prix in which Red Bull's risky strategy delivered in dramatic fashion.
Championship leader Verstappen had pole position but swiftly slipped behind Lewis Hamilton when he lost his rear at Turn 2 on the opening lap.
From there, though, Red Bull provided a hugely effective rescue package, first by executing an undercut that allowed Verstappen to edge back in front despite a solid Hamilton pit stop.
The Dutchman's battling qualities came to the fore as he held off both Hamilton and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, before Red Bull opted to take a gamble.
Verstappen went in for a second stop and faced a sizeable deficit on fresh medium tyres, albeit with time on his side.
The 23-year-old had to stay patient, but Bottas put up little fight and Hamilton was then passed on the penultimate lap to open up a 12-point gap at the top of the drivers' standings.
"Thank you so much, so good," Verstappen told his team, and he was then asked on the podium if he had enjoyed a gripping race.
"Towards the end, yes," he replied.
"In the beginning, it was super difficult out there with the wind, so one lap you had an okay balance and then the next lap you were just sliding everywhere. It was really difficult to keep the car stable.
"Once we made the first pit stop, you could clearly see on the hard tyres they were pushing me hard from behind.
"But when we made the call to do a two-stopper, luckily in the end that paid off. We had to work hard for it, but of course it's very rewarding."
On his attempts to reel in Hamilton, Verstappen added: "It was difficult, because there was quite a lot of backmarkers to go through, but luckily they all did well so we could have a good fight to the end."
And talk predictably then turned to the title picture, with seven-time champion Hamilton finally facing a fight again.
"You could see the whole race we were fighting each other, so I think it will be like this for the rest of the season," Verstappen said.
Hamilton added: "We've got to find some pace, that's for sure.
"You could see most of the time we lost today was on the straights, so we've got to definitely dig deep, try to figure out what that is – whether it's power or drag – but we've still got a good package."
Fraser McConnell caps off NitroRX season with podium finish as Dreyer & Reinbold claims team title
Jamaica’s lone rally cross driver Fraser McConnell capped off a fine 2022/23 Nitro Rally Cross season by finishing second in the season finale Group E Round 10 event at Glen Helen Raceway in California last weekend. McConnell demonstrated his tactical prowess during the damp six-lap final, only to be edged out by Dreyer&Reinbold Swedish teammate Robin Larsson, who took the final event in a time of 4:58:964.
Norway’s Andreas Bakkerud made it a clean sweep for team DRR after finishing third.
For his efforts, McConnell ended the overall championship third in Nitro RX 2022/23 and his contribution also allowed for team DRR to secure the team title which was pleasing for the Jamaican. “It has been a really great season in Nitro with me having a lot on the table and racing alongside people like Travis Pastrana, who is my childhood hero,” McConnell said.
“To be able to get third in the Championship with such a stacked field, was a big accomplishment for myself and Jamaica.”
McConnell entered the final day as one of the top five racers who were close in the championship standings. With Larsson eventually sewing up the championship, it was down to McConnell and Pastrana to see who would finish second and third, with the American just edging out the Jamaican in the last race of the season.
Following another successful season made possible by the support of sponsors Tru Shake, Just Bet, Proven Wealth, Jamaica Tourist Board and Rainforest Seafood, McConnell is already looking ahead to next season with his team in talks with the Nitro RX organizers to kick off the new season in June of this year.
“I am very happy with where I am at in my career and this past season really developed me as a driver. This shows that I can compete and beat the best in the world,” added McConnell.
After a break back home, McConnell will next turn his attention to the X44 Vida Carbon Racing, the Extreme E Team founded by Seven-Time Formula 1 Champion Sir Lewis Hamilton.
McConnell will join season-two winner and World Champion Cristina Gutiérrez as his race partner.
Alonso's 100th podium finish reinstated as Aston Martin win Saudi Arabia appeal
Fernando Alonso's 100th podium finish in Formula One has been reinstated after Aston Martin appealed a decision to hand him a 10-second penalty at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Alonso celebrated consecutive third-placed finishes on Sunday, having taken the lead from Sergio Perez early on before receiving a five-second penalty for an incorrect starting position on the grid.
The Spaniard recovered to finish behind Red Bull duo Perez and Max Verstappen, but an investigation after the race concluded he had not served his full five-second punishment while in the pit lane.
Mercedes' George Russell moved up to third after an Aston Martin engineer was said to have placed the rear jack on the back of Alonso's car just before the end of his penalty.
Alonso subsequently claimed that decision "didn't hurt too much" but criticised a "poor show" from the FIA, though the two-time world champion will be more content after his team's appeal was successful.
The outcome of Aston Martin's bid to reverse the penalty was announced shortly after 1am in Jeddah, confirming Alonso's century of podium finishes.
Alonso is just the sixth driver to reach that figure, after Lewis Hamilton (191), Michael Schumacher (155), Sebastian Vettel (122), Alain Prost (106) and Kimi Raikkonen (103).
Race stewards said they were shown footage of seven similar incidents in which cars were touched by the jack while serving a time penalty – all of which went unpunished – as part of the appeal.
Hamilton sees Mercedes progress in Saudi Arabia but Wolff still determined to challenge for wins
Lewis Hamilton feels Mercedes have shown progress after the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix but Toto Wolff is still determined to see the team challenge for victory.
The Briton finished fifth in the second race of the season, improving on his seventh-place position on the starting grid as Sergio Perez led a one-two Red Bull lockout.
Team-mate George Russell meanwhile provided the Silver Arrows with their first podium of the year, after he was elevated to third following a penalty against Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.
After a build-up dominated by the topic of the seven-time world champion's future, Hamilton acknowledged he was satisfied to make some steps in the right direction, no matter how small.
"We got some great points for the team," he told Sky Sports. "George got third and he did amazing. I went forwards. I'm really grateful to have come from seventh to fifth.
"The strategy didn't really work out for me, the set-up was a little bit off. [There is] lots to work on but there are positives to take away from it.
"I could only match [Russell's] pace rather than be quicker this weekend, but I'll work hard to make sure we're in a better position next weekend."
After taking fifth and seventh at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Saudi Arabia represented an improvement for Mercedes as a whole.
But Wolff is keen to see the team back among the frontrunners on the grid, stating of their performance; "We want to race for wins soon. We are [the] first loser.
"The question is what is [our] benchmark. If you look at the Red Bulls, they are just so quick. I think we understand the car more and I am looking optimistic for the future.
"We are making big elephant steps at the moment. But it is going to be a long time till we can challenge Red Bull. It is a super fun journey to climb back."
Russell, who missed out on standing on the podium before he was retroactively awarded third, acknowledges their rivals remain far ahead of the pack, but believes Mercedes are closer than many think.
"You have to give credit to what Red Bull have done," he added. "The gap they have to the rest of the field is bigger than we have seen since perhaps Mercedes in 2014. It is a serious, serious gap.
"But we know we didn't make the right decisions over the winter and we can regain some of that performance quicker than you would do ordinarily. All is not lost. We'll focus on ourselves and get the fundamentals right."
Mercedes posted a better day than rivals Ferrari, who saw Charles Leclerc forced to take a 10-place grid penalty before the race for a power unit change.
The Monegasque driver finished seventh, one place behind team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr., leaving team principal Frederic Vasseur to mull over a below-par weekend.
"It's not a good result," he added. "We didn't have the pace, we have to be honest. We have positive points from the weekend.
"[But] we have to understand where the lack of performance is coming from. It is not coming from the management."
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