By virtue of the host country's human rights record, to the often alarming number and nature of crashes on track, the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix is one of the most controversial races on the calendar.

But one thing was guaranteed once the lights went out - plenty of drama.

If last weekend in Bahrain was an entree, then Saudi Arabia provided a hearty main course of racing...racing...with a side of more racing.

An off-season dominated by talk of the new regulations, simulation performances and wind tunnel data, we’re now seeing conclusive evidence where it matters – out on track - that the 2022 generation F1 cars are built for battle.

Drivers are able to follow lead cars more closely without losing performance, even through the high speed corners of the Jeddah Corniche circuit, the fastest street circuit in 2022.

It’s also highlighted one of the more surprising, but certainly pleasing aspects that cars are not only about to fight harder for positions, but they can crucially fight back.

Which brings us onto the second big takeaway…

The drag reduction system (DRS) on F1 cars give the trailing car an extra engine boost (of around 15kmp/h) in designated areas of the track to help with overtaking.

But it’s become clear through the first two races - highlighted most pointedly by early title protagonists Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen - that using DRS this year is far more tactical than just pressing a button and zooming past your rivals.

We’re already seeing the lead car purposely ease off the accelerator to allow the trailing car to overtake before the DRS zone, so that they can then use it to re-take the lead on the following straight, call it the "Leclerc special".

Or like we saw with Verstappen’s decisive move on lap 46 on Monday morning, drivers are also holding off from overtaking until they've got the crucial DRS boost.

At one stage it led to a slightly farcical scene of both Leclerc and Verstappen locking up their front tyres, as they both attempted to slow their cars down to get the DRS advantage, a situation that might have to be something addressed by the FIA if it leads to an on-track incident down the line - let's hope not.

But for now, fans and crucially the drivers are lapping up the added dimension to racing.

When Leclerc says “every race should be like this” after finishing runner-up by just half a second, you know we’re in for plenty more thrilling scraps.

If the Red Bull-Ferrari battle was the decisive battle of the race, arguably the most intriguing one played out over the opening few laps.

Both Alpine drivers, Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso were given the green light by their own team to race against each other for track position.

This wasn’t just a case of trying to gain a position on the safety of a long straight.

It was elbows-out, wheel-to-wheel racing that frankly should earn team principal Otmar Szafnauer a nice Christmas bonus from their friends over at Netflix.

Rarely do we see teams allow that level of racing to go on for as long as it did, at one stage they even compromised Ocon’s race with Valtteri Bottas catching up and passing the Frenchman.

But that level of racing commitment by the whole team, deserves to be applauded.

One man who deserved far more applause than he got on the day was Sergio Perez.

After snatching a first pole of his career with a perfect lap in qualifying, Perez settled into a comfortable lead over Charles Leclerc for the first 16 laps of the grand prix.

But then an early contender for the unluckiest pit stop of 2022, as barely a minute after the Mexican's pitstop, Williams driver Nicholas Latifi crashed hard into the wall, forcing the safety car to come out and giving the rest of the field a "cheap" pit stop.

It saw Perez re-join the field in third, which eventually became fourth after being told to give a position back to Carloz Sainz.

Through his pace in qualifying, and the early laps of the race Perez has shown he and his car can match both Verstappen and the Ferraris.

For his sake, you hope that’s his bad luck done for the season.

As for bad luck, well the list from Saudi Arabia was pretty lengthy.

From Yuki Tsunoda’s inability to even start the race, to a raft of drivers withdrawing mid-race with mechanical issues, six cars in all didn’t make it to the chequered flag.

Nicholas Latifi’s race-ending crash was the only human error, as the weekend highlighted even more teams facing early season reliability issues.

Missing out on one or two races might not be season-defining just yet, but teams can’t afford to keep seeing opportunities for points not even be contested.

The extra week leading into the Australian Grand Prix on April 10 couldn’t have come at a better time.