Max Verstappen praised Oscar Piastri after the McLaren driver claimed the championship lead in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Piastri scored his third grand prix victory of the season yesterday and moved 10 points clear of team mate Lando Norris at the top of the drivers’ standings. Verstappen is 12 points behind in third.The Red Bull driver, who is seeking his fifth consecutive championship victory, said he is impressed with Piastri’s performance in his third season in F1.
“Last year was his second year, now he’s in his third year and he’s very solid. He’s very calm in his approach, and I like that. It shows on-track.
“He delivers when he has to, barely makes mistakes – and that’s what you need when you want to fight for a championship.”
Piastri is the first Australian to lead the world championship since his manager Mark Webber did 15 years ago. Webber led the 2010 standings with three rounds to go before falling to third place.
Verstappen said Piastri has benefited from Webber’s experience. “With Mark by his side, he’s helping him a lot, it’s great.
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“People learn from their own careers – that’s what I had with my dad and Mark is advising Oscar. At the end of the day, Oscar is using his talent, and that’s great to see.”
Piastri beat Verstappen to victory after the Red Bull driver was penalised for going off the track at the first corner to pass the McLaren. The pair were separated by less than three seconds at the finish.
Verstappen said he was encouraged by the performance of his car having finished only sixth in Bahrain a week earlier.
“I was very positively surprised, to be honest, because on Friday it was very, very tough,” he said. “It didn’t matter what I was doing in terms of driving, management, the tyres would just fall off.
“The car was a lot nicer [in the race]. Still limitations, but it was much more promising. And actually, at one point when I started to pull away again, I was quite positively surprised.”
But Verstappen, who won the Japanese Grand Prix a week before Bahrain, said Red Bull’s performance in Jeddah doesn’t prove they’ll be able to consistently challenge McLaren.
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“We have to stay a little bit calm because this track doesn’t have a lot of deg[radation], and we know that when we go to tracks where there’s higher deg, we just struggle more,” he said. “We still need to work on that.
“But the changes that we made already yesterday also worked for today. So I’m very pleased with that.”
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Jojo
21st April 2025, 16:20
Kind words from Max and also very true.
Piastri is very calm and doesn’t let himself get flustered or over excited.
It’s far too early to call, but assuming the competitive order of the teams stays relatively similar, I’d put him as WDC favourite, rather than Norris due to his mentality.
HW Small
22nd April 2025, 9:39
It also shows that Max has recognised his mind games both on and off track will have far less effect on OP.
M2X
22nd April 2025, 22:23
Which mind games?
Ferdi
23rd April 2025, 9:10
Exactly. The Oscars and Maxes of this world do not have to resort to mind games. Only lesser drivers and team bosses play this toddler game.
David BR (@david-br)
23rd April 2025, 14:15
Anyone who thinks this isn’t an attempt at some kind of mind game is deluded. Clearly Verstappen recognizes Piastri as a main rival for the title and he’s making public the fact he responded to his own grab of the race lead calmly. Does Max really ‘like’ that? Or to ask another question, would he have responded the same way as Oscar? It feels like he’s probing for weaknesses ‘off track’ since on track he’s not finding them in these confrontations with Piastri (yet). No problem if he is, of course. I just don’t buy the ‘generous praise’ idea.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
21st April 2025, 17:00
Oscar’s my guy now, just like Mark was back in those days. That 2010 was stressful as a big fan of his, and the disappointment at the end of the year didn’t help. But what a championship that was. Hopefully this year is sort of the same, with different cars having good weekends at different venues.
I also like that it’s Mark’s guy against his old team. Surely Oscar’s getting a lot of advice about how to race them: even if it’s been a long while since MW has been involved with them, some things never change, and RBR and Max are as hungry as ever. I don’t think Oscar is too worried about who he competes with, he sounds completely unfazed by anything. He’d stand a very good chance against any hot head I think.
Jungle
22nd April 2025, 9:41
2010 Korean GP – two wheels on the wet grass
David BR (@david-br)
23rd April 2025, 14:18
Webber was always an excellent racer, a good combination.
An Sionnach
21st April 2025, 19:42
Oscar beat Max off the line, held his own and made a daring pass on Hamilton. All the highlights of the race? He’s not afraid to take action to win. I like that.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
21st April 2025, 21:37
Thank you oh King Max for your decision on whether you like Oscar.
MacLeod (@macleod)
22nd April 2025, 7:40
Only a knight I am afraid …. but Max isn’t allowed to like Oscar ?
BasCB (@bascb)
22nd April 2025, 7:54
Will be interesting to see how it changes when (and if) the championship fight really tightens and Max finds himself having to beat Piastri for wins on track though. Him being happy for Norris and saying he’s doing well also ended as soon as Norris really tried to challenge him.
NM
22nd April 2025, 9:06
No it didn’t, i just doesn’t give presents at the track, of the track he kept saying the same things.
Ferdi
23rd April 2025, 9:14
It only did through the lens of the UK press. Please do not be a blind follower, keep thinking and finding out for yourself.
Jungle
22nd April 2025, 10:13
*ring ring*
Max – “Hello?”
Schwarzenegger – “Max this is Arnold. Just letting you know that Oscar smokes his stogie anywhere he wants!”
Sandwhichands
22nd April 2025, 13:24
Hard to know what degree this is about answering a question honestly, and playing some mind games with Lando. I suspect it’s conveniently both, but honesty first.
AlexS
23rd April 2025, 0:54
Max punish weakness.
He probably just thinks that Oscar is on his level so treats him equally. For example he also respects Leclerc after he gave him a taste of own medicine years ago.