Max Verstappen claims first win of F1 season after enthralling battle with Charles LeClerc at Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

The Red Bull driver, second for most of the race, took the lead with just a few laps to go and never relinquished it.Just like in Bahrain last week, the pair were locked together in an enthralling battle, with the final 10 laps of the race in Jeddah making for gripping watching.The victory is Verstappen’s first of the 2022 season, having not finished in Bahrain last week.Ferrari made up the rest of the podium with LeClerc in second and Carlos Sainz in third.The race came on a difficult weekend for F1, after missile strikes on an oil storage facility near the track by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.24-year-old Verstappen called it a “really tough race but a good race.””We were both battling hard at the front. We just tried to play the long game,” Verstappen said. “They were really quick through corners and we were really quick on the straight. The tires were wearing out quite quick. You could see by the end we had a little bit more pace. “I tried to get by, it wasn’t easy, they were playing smart tricks in the last corner, but eventually I managed to get ahead. Even after that he was constantly in the DRS.”Really happy we finally kick-started the season.”There have been no casualties so far in the attack, an official told CNN.Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videosSaudi state media later reported the Saudi-led Arab coalition launched airstrikes on what it said were “threat sources in Sanaa and Hodeidah” in Yemen, following Friday’s attack.The port city of Hodeidah is used to provide food and humanitarian aid for Yemenis. Fuel typically comes into the country’s north via the port, which is controlled by the Houthi rebels — but the Yemeni government, backed by Saudi warships, must give the vessels clearance to dock.Irene Nasser in Hong Kong, Talia Kayali and Hira Humayun in Atlanta, Nic Robertson, Eyad Kourdi, Amanda Davies and Mostafa Salem contributed to this report.