Piastri Strikes Back: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Recap
Apr 19
3 min read
The plot of the 2025 season of Formula One has thickened, and it dripped bright papaya orange. I did say that my coverage for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix would be McLaren-centric, and I will keep my word. So without further ado, let’s jump into action:
Qualifying
Max Verstappen seized pole position while Oscar Piastri and George Russell qualified P2 and P3. Lando Norris, meanwhile, crashed after driving over the curb and erratically drifting into the wall.
The red flag was naturally deployed. Thankfully, Norris was alright. Because this happened in Q1, the driver had to settle for P10. Not ideal for a driver in the Drivers’ Championship lead, but hey, c’est la vie.
The Race
As soon as the lights went out, elbows were thrown everywhere. Verstappen and Piastri, in particular, pounced for the (metaphorical) jugular and battled each other for P1. As the pair approached Turn 1 of the circuit, Piastri hit the apex on that turn and should have been able to overtake. On the other hand, Verstappen didn’t budge to give space and instead drove down a hypotenuse to maintain his lead. The catch, you ask? To achieve this, the Red Bull driver went completely off track.
Side note: Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda were the race’s DNFs, and both occurred within the first lap of the race. The Alpine driver hit the wall after contacting the Red Bull car, and Tsunoda’s car was retired following a quick assessment at the pit lane. All of this was happening while Verstappen and Piastri were fighting it out.
Naturally, the FIA stewards investigated the matter and found that Verstappen gained an unfair advantage over Piastri by going off-track. The stewards then dealt the Red Bull driver a five-second penalty. Verstappen headed to the pit late to observe his penalty around Lap 22 (of 55), and lost his race lead after that.
For obvious reasons, Red Bull was unhappy with the penalty, and honestly, I don’t blame them. I don’t imagine any team would react to a race-impacting penalty with glee. At the same time, the moment speaks for itself. Verstappen’s going off-track was so blatant that there isn’t a way to go around it.
Once Piastri led the race around Lap 38 and had no issue zipping ahead, save for an enduringly eager Verstappen behind him as a looming threat. Norris, meanwhile, impressively fought his way from P10 into the top five. At some point, the British driver was the race leader for a few laps before he was called into the pit lane. An impressive feat given his bad luck the day before.
Oscar Piastri ultimately won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, making it his third win of the season. Max Verstappen came in second place, and Charles Leclerc finished in third. Lando Norris came in fourth, only seconds behind the Ferrari driver.
Impact on Championship Rankings
McLaren continues to lead the Constructors’ Championship at 188 points as Mercedes follows behind in second place at 111 points. Red Bull is third at 89 points and Ferrari is fourth at 78 points. Williams, in a stark contrast to last year’s standings, is in fifth place at 25 points. So, unless the wheels of fortune were to turn for the papaya-clad team, McLaren seems poised to keep zipping ahead of the other teams. That isn’t to say it is too late for a challenger to rise to the occasion - it’s still too early in the season to make any assumptions.
Oscar Piastri now leads the Drivers’ Championship at 99 points. Lando Norris is now in second place at 89 points, ten points behind his teammate. All isn’t lost for him; a ten-point gap is easy to close at this stage of the season, but that would ultimately depend on how he and Piastri perform going forward. Max Verstappen, of course, continues to be the recurring threat to both McLaren drivers. He’s in third place at 87 points, merely two points behind Norris.
The stakes, of course, will continue to rise at the Miami Grand Prix. Fun fact: Lando Norris won his first race there last year. Will he be able to strike gold again? We’ll have to wait and see.
