Oscar Piastri backed the stewards’ decision to penalise Max Verstappen for passing him off the track on the first lap of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver won the race after taking the lead while Verstappen served a five-second time penalty during his only pit stop.Piastri started from second place and immediately drew alongside Verstappen on the run to turn one, nosing ahead slightly as they approached the corner. While Piastri ran to the outside of the corner, Verstappen cut across the asphalt run-off area and rejoined the track ahead of his rival.
“I got a great launch and got myself alongside,” Piastri explained. “And from that point I knew that I obviously had to brake quite late, but I knew that I had enough of my car alongside to take the corner.
“We obviously both braked extremely late. For me, I braked as late as I could while staying on the track.”
It took race control little more than six minutes to announce Verstappen’s time penalty. “I think how it unfolded is how it should have been dealt with,” said Piastri.
The stewards said Verstappen would have been given a 10-second penalty for the infringement had it not happened on the first lap of the race.
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As Verstappen remained in front of him, Piastri struggled in the Red Bull’s wake until he pitted on lap 19. “The first stint was tough behind Max,” he said.
“Then once I had some clean air, it was a bit easier to manage. But I still couldn’t afford to take my foot off the gas.
“It was a difficult race, and Max was quick behind me, so I had to keep pushing. I think I could control it reasonably well, but it was a little bit tighter than I would have liked.”
Piastri beat Verstappen to the chequered flag by just 2.8 seconds, setting his fastest lap on the final tour. “I don’t know how long I could’ve done that,” he said, “but I felt like I was taking decent risks for the race.
“The last lap, obviously, I wanted to see exactly what I had, but there’s not too much point in taking a crazy risk as well.
“Once we had some clean air, our pace was okay. But the end of the medium [tyre] stint, I had nothing for Max and it was a struggle. The pace wasn’t as much of an advantage as I wanted it to be, but it was good enough.”
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Piastri’s third victory from the first five races this year means he leads the championship for the first time in his career. However he said he will continue to approach every race the same way.
“I still want to go out and try and win every race I can,” he said. “I’m not that bothered by the fact that I’m leading the championship, but I’m proud of the work and the reasons behind why we’re leading the championship.
“Melbourne wasn’t a great start to the year in terms of results. But from the moment I’ve hit the track this season, I felt like I’ve been in a good place.
“Leading the championship is a result of all the hard work we’ve done in the off-season, the hard work I’ve done personally, the hard work the team has done. I’m more proud of all of those things than I am of the fact that I’m leading the championship because, ultimately, I want to be leading it after round 24, not round five.”
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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
lucho19 (@lucho19)
21st April 2025, 0:43
Put a gravel pit at the end of the straight. Problem solved
Jere (@jerejj)
21st April 2025, 6:33
Indeed. A small piece of gravel or other physical material running parallel from the T2 apex curb to the techpro edge would be enough to automatically slow down anyone short-cutting T2.
Osnola
21st April 2025, 9:04
That wpuld have resulted in both cars in the gravel as pia only had one wheel slightly on track.
Good for george and leclerc..
Robert (@lekkerbek)
21st April 2025, 7:43
Didn’t the rules change last year where the following was a crucial addition:
“Without (deliberately) forcing the other car off the track at the exit, which includes leaving a fair and acceptable width for the car being overtaken from the apex to the exit of the corner”
Apparently this isn’t the case anymore or they ignored it.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
21st April 2025, 7:48
It was Oscar’s corner so Verstappen had to yield. Don’t blame Max though for trying, he had a massive runoff as escape. Change the runoff to something you want to avoid (gravel) and problem solved.
SpaFrancorchamps (@spafrancorchamps)
21st April 2025, 8:58
I don’t blame him for trying either. Just stop whining like a baby when you take a risk and it doesn’t work out.
Jojo
21st April 2025, 17:48
When did he whine like a baby? He avoided making any comment about the penalty.
Red Pill (@redpill)
24th April 2025, 18:58
In the many times before, he has a long history of whining when it doesn’t go his way, even after he’s done the same move in the past and gotten away from with it. It’s not just this race.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
21st April 2025, 10:12
Hurry up and build Qiddiya so we don’t have to use this lousy corner on this wretched track many more times.
It’s like a bad game – a wide, smooth track between walls, endlessly curving left and right, but no challenge because it’s all flat-out. Just like Bahrain, all the bright lights and more fireworks than New Year’s Day can’t hide that I’d rather watch cars not quite overtaking around Imola or Suzuka.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
21st April 2025, 11:48
And you think a fairground videogame track is the answer? Id just enjoy what it is not what it isn’t or you are in for a lifetime of doom looping
Jojo
21st April 2025, 17:47
When did he whine like a baby? He avoided making any comment about the penalty.
Jojo
21st April 2025, 17:49
Sorry I keep replying to the wrong comments today, ignore my last!
SteveP
21st April 2025, 10:16
Race clockwise
cookie71 (@paulcook)
21st April 2025, 10:34
I don’t know why they don’t introduce the moto gp long lap penalty. Quickly sorts the issue, restores the running order and avoids drivers gaming the system and trying to build a gap to offset the penalty.
SpaFrancorchamps (@spafrancorchamps)
21st April 2025, 11:11
Because the MotoGP field is much more bunched up than Formula 1 is.
Jungle
22nd April 2025, 9:46
Read this comment somewhere else…..
“Piastri Verstappen’d Verstappen!”