An intruder in the top ten

Hands up who had Nico Hulkenberg down for a top ten finish in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

In a championship that already seems divided into the haves and have-nots, with five teams always fighting for points and the other five arguing over the scraps, the Haas driver did just that, by rounding off the top ten, thus picking up the final championship point on offer. Starting on the Medium tyre, Nico was impeccable, enjoying a somewhat solitary race as he opted not to pit and change tyres during the race's one Safety Car period. However, the final result was really down to a great job from the American team, its pit wall crew putting its two drivers on different strategies. It meant Kevin Magnussen was called on to play the role of “blocker,” holding up those behind, defending tooth and nail to build a gap which allowed Nico to eventually pit on lap 33 to switch to the Hard tyre, rejoining in tenth place, which he valiantly kept all the way to the chequered flag.

“It was perfect teamwork,” said the German after the race. “I will pay him back (Editor's note: Magnussen) later in the season!”

The point from Jeddah is very important for the Haas team. Most significantly, it ends a barren run that dates back to Singapore last year, on that occasion another tenth place, this time from Magnussen and it also means the team led by Ayao Komatsu has moved up, for the time being at least, to sixth in the Constructors' standings.

Just the sort of start to the season that boss Gene Haas, who was with the team in Jeddah, would have wanted.