Oscar Piastri won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and claimed the championship lead for the first time in his career.
The McLaren driver won from second on the grid, moving ahead of Max Verstappen when the pole-winner was penalised for leaving the track to re-pass Piastri at the start. Piastri got off the line more quickly than the Red Bull driver and nosed ahead of him approaching the first corner, only for Verstappen to cut it and rejoin the track ahead.Verstappen’s penalty was announced soon afterwards but he did not have to serve it until he made his only pit stop of the race. Piastri came in before him, and despite having to pick his way past Lewis Hamilton, easily had enough time in hand to claim the lead.
They finished in that order, with Charles Leclerc claiming Ferrari’s first podium finish of the season in third place. He resisted a late charge by Lando Norris, who rose from 10th on the grid to finish fourth, after taking three laps to find a way past Hamilton early on.
George Russell started third but was unable to challenge the leaders and fell back to fifth. He was concerned about the state of his tyres in the final laps, but took the chequered flag ahead of his team mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Hamilton came seventh behind the driver who took over his Mercedes seat. The final points-scoring positions were occupied by the Williams drivers, Carlos Sainz Jnr ahead of Alexander Albon, and Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bulls, the trio flying in close formation.
Liam Lawson crossed the line in 11th place but fell behind Fernando Alonso after collecting a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. The Haas pair were next, Oliver Bearman ahead of Esteban Ocon after the pair were told to swap places.
Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda were the race’s only retirements after colliding on the first lap of the race, which triggered a brief Safety Car period.
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2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
- Red Bull made tactical decision not to avoid a penalty in Jeddah, Horner confirms
- Norris’s starts were far poorer than Verstappen’s but the balance is shifting
- McLaren’s rivals “just one upgrade away from being the lead car” – Brown
- Russell told race control what he thought of Verstappen’s first lap corner cut
- Doohan’s final corner pass on Bortoleto was F1’s closest fight for last place in seven years
BasCB (@bascb)
20th April 2025, 19:32
Well done by Piastri. Really good drive from Leclerc as well as Norris to get up to 4th in a race without the benefit of a SC that would have helped him. Hadjar mananaged to get into the points again too. Max did decently, but losing it from pole should not give him the driver of the day accolades.
BMW P85 V10
20th April 2025, 20:18
The crash of Tsunoda and Gasly did help him though.
BasCB (@bascb)
20th April 2025, 20:29
Sure, it got him two spots up the road probably, yeah.
David
21st April 2025, 10:16
The F1 Driver of the Day vote has been bizarre all season. Either someone is manipulating it by flooding it with fake votes, or the staff are bored and making up the winner.
Ferdi
22nd April 2025, 11:33
Welcome to the Liberty Media era. Cheap scripted entertainment for the masses is their slogan. And Ben is all to willing to play ball with them.
Jere (@jerejj)
20th April 2025, 19:36
Fortunately, Max’s corner-cut ultimately didn’t prove decisive, but yet another proof that race control should order an immediate swap or during the SC period in this case specifically.
Antonelli at least let Leclerc by immediately as did Alonso shortly afterwards.
Lawson’s 10-second time penalty was questionable because he didn’t necessarily manage to keep position because of such a marginal off.
Bortoleto was lucky he didn’t cause a big accident with his totally unnecessary last-minute leftward movement.
The last corner again featured DRS tactics, which won’t happen ever again.
Jere (@jerejj)
20th April 2025, 19:37
The Gasly-Tsunoda collision was a racing incident, but Gasly could’ve avoided the contact.
AlexS
20th April 2025, 19:41
What? Gasly was in front , it was Tsunoda that should not put the wheel in front of Gasly rears.
Jere (@jerejj)
20th April 2025, 19:46
Gasly had more space around him, while Tsunoda had barely anything with Gasly to his right & concrete to his right.
Gasly at least had runoff space to his right.
Hal
20th April 2025, 21:34
Tsunoda front wheel were at the level of Gasly’s sidepod. At that stage, Gasly had overtaken and could not see Yuki anymore while Yuki could only see Gsaly. He just slided into the frenchman….
Emr
21st April 2025, 0:18
Actually Gasly turned into Tsunoda with following the corner as both had nowhere to go
AlexS
21st April 2025, 8:22
No. Tsunoda knows very well the corner like any F1 pilot. He had no business taking an unecessary dig.
AlanD
21st April 2025, 1:17
“but yet another proof that race control should order an immediate swap”
Jere, I think I disagree. If race control is getting involved, they are saying the driver made an illegal move. Swapping the places back is zero penalty. This means that it becomes in the interest of the driver to make that illegal move, they might get away with it if the stewards cannot see conclusive proof on video, and the worst that can happen is they’ll be moved back to where they were. If they are telling cars to swap places because there was a mess of cars all over the place and they are trying to get people back into the right order under SC etc, that’s different, but in the race, either the driver fixes the problem themself, imediately, or they take a real and consequential penalty, maybe an order to give the place back AND a five or ten second time penalty.
greasemonkey
21st April 2025, 2:30
No.
If he had taken any sort of reasonable line through that corner, it would have been a wreck. If all F1 drivers back out of that move, well, have fun watching whatever that sport is.
Still, he kept a position he did in fact have (slightly) less rights to, so he should have swapped. Given there was a SC, it should have been a no-brainer.
No big deal though in the end. Piastri would have won either way.
greasemonkey
21st April 2025, 2:34
The real problem here is that at some of these “interesting” choices for venues and stewards, it is a risk for a driver to voluntarily swap. At this particular race, given how they gave a strike for that too, if he voluntarily swapped, they might still have given 5s.
Ideally, yeah, he should have voluntarily swapped, but that should have been near zero risk to not counting as making amends. Which is not the case.
SteveP
21st April 2025, 11:07
In previous seasons the words “British bias” appeared regularly in these forums.
Same situation now, no Brits on the steward panel…
[sits chuckling]
Mark Z.
21st April 2025, 5:48
I agree with your point, but there is already a disincentive to endless instances of such behaviour in the form of a track limits strike (as Max found out). Eventually, he would have gotten a penalty for it, which I think is a reasonable approach.
I also don’t think the position swap should be viewed as a voluntary gesture, or an order from race control to avoid a penalty. The penalty itself should be the position swap (plus the track limits strike). The stewards ought to be much more nimble about this sort of thing. There’s no reason this swap couldn’t have been done under the safety car.
Craig
21st April 2025, 8:32
There is certainly an argument for bringing something akin to MotoGP’s “give X number of positions up” penalty to F1. Pros and Cons to it as well, of course.
Mind you, such a terribly designed chicane also raises problems by almost actively encouraging this sort of thing.
SteveP
21st April 2025, 11:50
In home conversations I’ve advocated the position penalty as it seems to scale with time.
Something like a 2 position penalty for this kind of incident has the advantage of scaling in that two positions for a lap one incident is actually more lenient than a 5-second penalty applied immediately, but more harsh if the driver leaves it 19–20 laps. With the correct position loss penalty, the driver/team get pushed toward quick remediation.
Set the best number of positions on a track by track basis? (compare Silverstone and Monaco)
Kribana (@krichelle)
20th April 2025, 19:37
Ah Piastri is not scared of wheel to wheel with Verstappen. I can see this getting intense if Piastri keeps up this level of performance.
David BR (@david-br)
20th April 2025, 19:53
Except it will be Piastri versus Verstappen and the stewards who for whatever reason always go easier on MV.
today’s off-track grab of Piastri’s well-earned pass into the first corner just makes me dislike Verstappen’s attitude, kind of dishonourable never acknowledging when you’ve been fairly beaten and doing anything outside the regulations to alter reality.
Markos
20th April 2025, 21:31
Reminded me of Abu Dhabi 2021 where Hamilton cut the first corner and got no penalty…
David BR (@david-br)
20th April 2025, 21:51
After being dive-bombed by Verstappen on the inside.
Osnola
21st April 2025, 8:48
A dive bomb is a clean pass. Ricciardo was famous for it. But when max does it….
SteveP
21st April 2025, 11:55
@Osnola
A dive bomb is a manoeuvre that may, or may not, result in a pass.
MV vs. LH Hungary 2024 (necessary fail)
XM (@xmf1)
21st April 2025, 1:34
Max got penalised this race. Jeezus the mental gymnastics some of you go through. Were you expecting the stewards to black flag him for that?
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
21st April 2025, 3:18
Objectively speaking, Max got a 5 second penalty whilst Lawson received a 10 second penalty for arguably the same thing. I also recall Max receiving no racing penalty for deliberately driving Norris off the circuit in Mexico last year. Whilst I don’t necessarily agree that the stewards are always easy on Max, I can definitely understand that viewpoint for which there is credible evidence. No mental gymnastics required.
SteveP
21st April 2025, 12:28
Being firmly not an MV supporter, and being objective, MV was a lap 1 incident and treated more leniently than LL later in the race.
The real debate is whether it is appropriate to have a time penalty that you can nullify with a fast enough driving performance in an advantageous track position you gained by the offence.
Rooie Piet (@axel3304)
20th April 2025, 19:37
With benefit of hindsight Max should’ve handed the place back before the SC restart. But I feel like Red Bull did not expect to be this strong in terms of pace and thought they only had a chance if they still had the lead after T2. The gamble made sense, but I had hoped there would be more of a fight throughout the race.
HAl
20th April 2025, 21:39
Yeah, Max is not afraid of a fight ; I don’t understand why he did not simply gave the spot back and go at it again. Instead, he just force the steward to take a decision. As if there was any chances they would give him a free pass….
Apart from being able to complain and have his fan unhappy, there is no benefit.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st April 2025, 0:49
I mean, you never know, hamilton got no penalty in abu dhabi 2021, although in that occasion verstappen forced him a bit more off track than on this.
SteveP
21st April 2025, 12:35
“A bit” ??
ROFL. I’m not sure any of the 2021 clashes were “a bit”
Mooa42
21st April 2025, 1:01
@HAI I am sure Max thought Piastri went off track too, in which case he probably wouldn’t have to give the position back. I think Piastri staying on track was pivotal.
XM (@xmf1)
21st April 2025, 1:36
It makes a bit of sense if they know the MCL in free air would just pull away and they won’t be able to do anything about it. Staying in the lead and risking a penalty would be the least risky option, yeah
MichaelN
20th April 2025, 19:40
Sounded like Leclerc had a great run on that first set of tyres. Good for him! Hamilton a bit disappointing, his qualifying needs urgent improvement otherwise this will just keep happening given that, unlike Norris’ McLaren, his Ferrari has no real advantage – if any – over the cars starting ahead.
Good to see the Williams duo both in the points!
And Norris might have gotten by Leclerc with a better race, but all in all, not too bad given his mistake yesterday. Piastri leading the championship should give him the wake-up call he arguably needed before.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
20th April 2025, 19:43
First back to back wins for a McLaren driver since Hamilton’s Turkey-Canada double in June 2010.
In the 21st century, Hakkinen did a double in 2000, Kimi did it twice in 05 and Lewis had doubles in 07 and 08.
Hakkinen did 4 back to backs in his first title year, and did a further 1 in 99.
Senna did 2 back to backs in 1993, but in the last 30 years 4 men have won back to back races in a McLaren over 8 seasons.
This isn’t a small achievement.
Imre (@f1mre)
20th April 2025, 21:20
2000 was in the 20th century.
SteveP
21st April 2025, 12:49
People make the same mistake regularly.
There was no year zero, so 1-99 were the first 99 years of the first 100. (0001- 0099 = 1st Century)
Similarly, 1999 was the 99th year of the 20th.
The big fuss on the 1999-2000 rollover was a popular media mistake.
The only significant thing was the effect on computer systems where the year was statically assigned 19 for the first two digits and thus had a rollover from 1999 to 1900…
DMC
20th April 2025, 19:44
oooh! Max is rattled! He’s met his match.
Ben
20th April 2025, 20:29
It does seem so. I’ve not seen this behaviour since last year when Norris was closing the gap.
I expect to see some classic dive bombs in the next few races.
OOliver
20th April 2025, 19:45
Max has been getting away with these moves now he has been caught and he should stop being childish as if he didn’t plan it.
The same routine always he will lift off in the braking zone then carry much speed knowing he won’t really make the corner. It doesn’t matter if he’s on the inside or outside, it is just the same action.
David BR (@david-br)
20th April 2025, 19:55
Not caught enough. Why does everyone else get 10 seconds and Verstappen’s far more blatant lunge only 5? Especially when even FIA stewards, hugely inept as they are, must know that having the race lead and clean air counts so much?
Osnola
21st April 2025, 8:50
Just read the steward report and you have your answer.
Nm
20th April 2025, 19:55
He probably thought if hamilton could keep it in ad21 then he could do the same. But off course the rules aply different every time.
T
20th April 2025, 19:45
I despise how Lewis gives up at the end of grand prix(e?)s regardless of how strong or weak the pace is
every
single
time
it’s like the early days where he’d abort a quali lap if he made a slight mistake
Ben
20th April 2025, 20:22
He’s ready for his afternoon nap by that point. Driving around nearly 40 seconds slower than his teammate clearly takes it out of him.
T
20th April 2025, 20:34
He finally found pace and was lapping decently, slowly reeling in kimi then he just let off and the gap started growing again because as is now somehow tradition, we’re in the final stages of the GP so just “bring it home”
N
20th April 2025, 20:43
The clue is in your second sentence, he was only slowly clawing Antoneli in, it barely got below 2seconds with only a few laps remaining, you’re never just going to catch and breeze past someone with that small of a delta. He knew this and decided to bring home the points. No need for the hysterics.
T
20th April 2025, 23:02
This isn’t hysterics, it’s frustration from an admirer
I’ve been following his races for years now
He has let go of opponents he had reeled in until he was within drs range of. Russell at spa last year comes to mind I believe
Fresher tires, better strategy then he just let him go with his worn tires. If it weren’t for the disqualification it’d be the dumbest way to lose to a race win
COTA 2021 where he chased Max all the way to flag was just * chef’s kiss*
Where’s that Hamilton, I really like that Hamilton
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
21st April 2025, 0:21
I agree.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
21st April 2025, 3:41
I think the car has gotten even further away from him and closer to Leclerc which is not what Lewis would have wanted. Now he has to look and try to understand where the pace is and how to bring it about. It might not be about being a better driver as much as setting up the car a certain way and driving it to accommodate that set up.
I think it’s normal to expect Lewis to be less adaptable at this point in his career so we’ll see how it goes.
N
20th April 2025, 21:52
The gap at the flag to Leclerc was 31 seconds, not 40, and that was with Leclerc having clean air in his first stint, then going full beans for the whole of his 2nd stint, with Hamilton in battles in the first stint and then backing off towards the end of his 2nd stint. Still a decent gap between them but exaggerated by circumstance, and further exaggerated by individuals who want to make it bigger than it was.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
21st April 2025, 0:19
Why the constant criticism and sarcasm about Lewis. It’s a bit infantile.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
21st April 2025, 0:19
This is aimed at Ben, by the way.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
20th April 2025, 20:36
If he isn’t winning he sulks … done it all his career.
I admire his talent, but it is a shame that he gives up when the going gets rough.
Edvaldo
20th April 2025, 19:48
Max didnt even attempted to take that corner, went straight for the run off area to keep the lead.
And still they were trying to be smart and didnt give the position without being told to by race direction, so, it was a good decision not to give them the opportunity and go straight for the penalty.
RomTrain (@romtrain)
20th April 2025, 19:51
10s would have been the right penalty tough.
Nm
20th April 2025, 19:57
Well piastri gave him nowhere to go did he? He overshot the corner also
Edvaldo
20th April 2025, 20:07
Two can’t make that corner side by side. If Piastri was on the inside and slightly ahead as he was, Max should’ve yielded. Or go to the run-off area and then yield. The move was done.
But he didn’t do any of those. Tried to game the system again.
MichaelN
20th April 2025, 23:45
Yes they can, all tracks have a minimum width and it fits much more than two cars.
The problem is that F1 has authorized the idea that being slightly ahead at any point gives drivers the right to just run others off and make maximum use of the track. So rather than slowing down, which he should have done, Piastri just released the brakes, barely made the corner himself, and was given the OK by the stewards.
It’s not his fault, but it’s a bad way to go racing.
Edvaldo
21st April 2025, 0:01
They can if they’re not racing. This kind of stuff was barely an issue before the tarmac run-off areas.
Max was not ahead enough to make the corner without touching Piastri. Without resorting to going through the run-off area, the issue would be done right there and he would lose the lead.
It’s a really small thing that would have been avoided had they made the run-off area slower than taking the corner correctly, so he would go there to avoid going for a disappearing space instead of using it to try to keep the lead that should’ve been lost.
DMC
21st April 2025, 0:00
Exactly as I saw it.
Edvaldo
20th April 2025, 21:21
The problem with you people is that you don’t want to discuss. What is not praise for Max, can only be hate.
He went off the track to avoid losing a position that was already virtually lost and did not give it back.
What exactly do you want us to praise if telling it as it is, for you is hate?
rprp
21st April 2025, 8:59
Piastri made the corner just fine. If there was a wall on the exit, there’s no way Max would’ve done what he did.
BMW P85 V10
20th April 2025, 20:27
You could see Max steering away from Piastri to avoid contact. Max was on a trajectory to make the corner but had to avoid Piastri to avoid a crash.
So I wouldn’t call this a slam dunk penalty but a racing incident.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st April 2025, 0:52
The most ridiculous thing is on the radio the engineer said “no comment”, as if the penalty was a joke; it was a well deserved penalty, although verstappen raced excellently, that aside.
David (@nvherman)
21st April 2025, 8:17
@esploratore1 I thought that the “no comment” was for Verstappen’s benefit, advising him to make no comment
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
21st April 2025, 12:16
@esploratore1 @nvherman Lambiase was talking over Verstappen a lot at that point, I got the impression by “no comment” he was urging Verstappen not to express a view. A bit like in Hungary last year when he made the “childish” remark.
David BR (@david-br)
20th April 2025, 19:59
Piastri is accumulating the kind of race-winning experience that will make it ever more difficult for the accident-prone Norris to keep up. Today it was a brilliant start of the line, dealing calmly with Verstappen’s low-level smash and grab of the unearned race lead, and coping with unyielding backmarkers and eating into his 4 second lead. Leclerc was also good, McLaren disappointing, Tsunoda and Gasly unlucky they tangled.
David BR (@david-br)
20th April 2025, 20:00
(*Mercedes disappointing)
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
21st April 2025, 3:37
Piastri couldn’t have picked a better time to join McLaren – Webber’s experience really came through there. Of course, Piastri has had to cope with the pressure but he’s been doing a stellar job.
It’s definitely putting more pressure on Norris and I’m not sure Norris is a “pressure cooker” type of guy. That doesn’t mean he may not improve though and become more consistent.
David BR (@david-br)
21st April 2025, 11:55
@freelittlebirds I agree. There’s no doubt Norris can be fast and actually faster than Piastri. But Piastri exudes calm and well-timed moments of racing aggression, while Norris is constantly second-guessing himself and making unforced errors (like his entry and exit of the pit lane yesterday, which almost got him another penalty). There’s a team leader and main title challenger position waiting to be claimed at McLaren. Norrs could regroup in the short break and put together a couple of poles and race wins and he’ll be back level with Piastri, sure. But I just don’t see him ever achieving the kind of consistency shown by Verstappen or Russell, say.
Leo B
20th April 2025, 20:01
Sorry Max. You can’t overtake off track and keep the advantage. It’s “simply” not allowed.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
20th April 2025, 20:38
But it was allowed.
He was gifted free air while the team Boffins worked out a strategy to help him.
Leo B
20th April 2025, 21:52
You’re absolutely right. They could have insisted he give the place back. Better for the spectacle too.
However on this occasion the 5 sec penalty, though lenient, did the trick.
HerbertSteward (@madlewis)
20th April 2025, 21:09
Can’t wait for the other way around next time. Max will absolutely push Piastri of the track. Oo boy. Fireworks guaranteed. Decent pace by Norris also. I bet Piastri and Norris will fight each other soon enough which will end in tears.
Davethechicken
20th April 2025, 22:34
So to translate you are saying yet again, one rule for Max another for everyone else?
Mooa42
21st April 2025, 1:17
I can’t wait either, I’m sure Oscar has watched enough of Max’s battles that if the situation was reversed he will know what to expect and has the cool head to deal with it fairly.
Jeffrey Powell
20th April 2025, 22:18
Excellent. Go Oscar Go.
MurasamaRA300 (@murasamara300)
21st April 2025, 8:00
+1.
Very well executed race, Piastri sure does his talking on the track.
Reminds me of Professor Prost.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
21st April 2025, 0:32
Max was full of bleep when he said PIA never made the corner with his line when in reality PIA made the corner just fine
Osnola
21st April 2025, 8:55
“Just fine” only one wheel stayed on track for a few centimeters.
He was extremly lucky and ver probably even thought he also went off track.
Chris (@austin-healey)
21st April 2025, 0:45
@Keith Collantine
I can’t wait for you to tell us the radio comms between Max and the team. Curious to know if they discussed handing the place back?
And, if so, who said no?
Max or the pit wall?
Maisch (@maisch)
21st April 2025, 11:48
Sadly clumsy racing from Max again, I think he could have won if he just let the place back as everyone else did in that situation, he could have had a good chance to pass him with the pace he had in the first stint.
David BR (@david-br)
21st April 2025, 12:03
@maisch That’s what most annoys me. I’d prefer the driver being told to return the position won by going off track and then made to fight for it again – which Verstappen could have done. Instead we’re all left calculating what kind of time penalty ‘evens up’ the advantage of leading the race until the first pit stop (clearly 5 seconds wasn’t enough).
That said, it would be good to know exactly what the drivers’ briefing said about cutting the first corner. One thing we know is that Max will exploit every possibly advantage and if the briefing left open the possibility of going unpenalized for driving across the first corners and keeping the place, he’ll make that decision in an instant.