Race Report: Piastri beats Verstappoen in Saudi Arabian GP

Oscar Piastri took advantage of a quick start and 5s penalty for Max Verstappen to win the Formula 1 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix for McLaren giving him the Driver’s Championship lead for 2025.

Getting a quicker start than pole-sitter Max Verstappen, Oscar parlayed that start into a robust defense at turn 1 leaving Verstappen running wide to retain the lead but race stewards looked dimly on the move and assessed a 5s penalty that dropped Max back to P2 at his first pit stop.

The duo were followed him by a rapid Chalres Leclerc who seemed to find pace in his Ferrari on the Hard compounds in the middle of the race as he held off a recovering Lando Norris.

Win

A win for Oscar and McLaren who took the win and with it, both the constructor’s and driver’s championship lead. Lando also had a very good recovery to P4 limiting the damage to his title bid having started down in P10. Oscar’s win makes things a bit challenging as to which driver is best poised to go for the title fight.

A win for Max Verstappen who’s Red Bull struggled in Bahrain but found some footing and balance to be competitive with a pole position and a P2 finish. Chances are, the 5s penalty he incurred may have cost him the win but the team had a choice to take the penalty or they could have immediately given the position back during the safety car and fought hard with a possible undercut strategy.

A win for Charles Leclerc who seemed to be struggling with the Ferrari for much of the weekend but the race was a different story as he found terrific pace on the Hard compounds and clawed his way up to a P3 podium finish.

I know we are used to seeing George Russell on the podium this year and Toto Wolff thought this was the weakest performance so far this year from the team but the car just didn’t seem to have the pace in Jeddah and despite that, George and teammate Kimi Antonelli brought the cars home in P5 and P6 respectively and that’s exactly what the team want from their drivers and the exact thing Red Bull can’t seem to get, team cars nose-to-tail.

A win for Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon who used each other’s position to provide DRS for Albon in order to hold off a charging Isack Hadjar. It worked a treat and they brought their Williams cars home in P8 and P9 for good points.

Isack Hadjar had a tougher weekend in Bahrain but rebounded to the points in Saudi Arabia to finish P10. His teammate, Liam Lawson, was a little more ragged but finished P12.

Fail

A fail for Lando Norris who crashed in qualifying and had a lot of work to do. Given his was leading the championship, he didn’t need the distraction and he lost the lead in the championship and some of the focus as now there is a lot of focus on Oscar Piastri’s possible title bid.

A fail for Lewis Hamilton who just can’t seem o get his head around the Ferrari car. He has had moments when he’s explained that he thinks he’s unlocked something about the car only to seem like h hasn’t. As I said last year when it was announced he was joining Ferrari, it may be great for the team from a marketing standpoint but I would not have made the deal if I were Fred Vasseur. The F1 titles are a race between the next generation (Max, Lando, Oscar, Charles, George, Kimi, Pierre, Ollie et. al.).

A fail for Haas who just couldn’t find the pace on this track having had a decent day in Bahrain and Japan. Ollie tried hard but couldn’t crack the points.

A bad day for Alpine with Pierre out in turn 1 and Jack Doohan unable to make much progress towards the points.

WTH

I have to consider that perhaps Aston Martin are really focused on making the most of what they have for 2025 but with the real focus on next year. I am not sure where their pace has gone.

Yuki Tsunoda had a tough day and while there were flashes over the weekend, his retirement is no better than Liam or Sergio and that’s got to be concerning for the team. Problem is, I am not sure there are many answers.

Saudi Arabia GP Results: