McLaren’s Oscar Piastri claimed the title lead with victory at the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Piastri benefitted from a five-second time penalty for Verstappen after an opening corner clash to take victory ahead of the reigning four-time champion.
Speaking to ex McLaren driver, David Coulthard post-race, Piastri revealed that he felt “very happy” to have won the race after having “… made the difference at the start and made my case in to Turn One and that was enough.”
Piastri also addressed the opening corner clash with Verstappen as he explained that he believed that he was far enough in front when Verstappen cut the corner.
“Once I got on the inside I wasn’t coming out of Turn One in second. I tried my best and obviously the stewards had to get involved, but I thought I was far enough and in the end that’s what got me the race.”
Lando Norris drove from tenth on the grid to fourth after he was fought off by Charles Leclerc for third.
George Russell, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon and Isack Hadjar rounded out the top ten.
In the drivers’ standings, Piastri now sit at the top of the championship with 99 points with a two-point gap to Norris who is now just 10 points clear of third-placed Verstappen.
At lights out, Verstappen and Piastri made an evenly-matched start with the latter marginally ahead by the entry to the opening corner when Verstappen decided to cut the corner and retain his lead from the Aussie which ultimately earned him a five-second time penalty.
Verstappen pathetically retorted over team radio that Piastri had “no intention” of making the corner despite replays showing that he was clearly ahead of the Red Bull by a slender margin.
The safety car however was deployed after Gasly swept around the outside of Tsunoda through Turn 5, only for the rear left-tyre of the Frenchman’s Alpine to be clipped by Tsunoda which sent the pair spinning out of the race.
Racing recommenced at the end of Lap 3 as Verstappen scurried away from Piastri after he forced the Aussie to take a wide line through the final corner to avoid the risk of contact.
Norris meanwhile found himself eighth on the restart and cleared Sainz on Lap 7 before he found himself in a pass and be repassed battle with Hamilton from Lap 12 to the start of Lap 15 when he made his third attempt stick.
Norris then cleared Antonelli on Lap 19 whilst Piastri decided to undercut Verstappen by pitting at the end of that lap which paid off, as Verstappen pitted on Lap 22 and rejoined in fifth with a four-second deficit to his McLaren rival having served his time penalty in his stop.
Leclerc was the last medium tyre runner to pit at the end of Lap 29 which left Norris free to run at the front on the alternative strategy, until the Brit followed suit five laps later to switch from hard to medium tyres as he rejoined in fifth position.
Piastri consequently assumed the lead with a circa 4.5s gap to Verstappen whilst Leclerc’s lengthy opening stint paid dividends as he cleared Russell round the outside into Turn 1 on Lap 38 for third position.
Russell soon found himself in the clutches of Norris by the start of Lap 41 when the McLaren driver swept past the Mercedes into Turn 1 for fourth, but fell just one second shy of catching Leclerc for third.
Up front, Piastri eventually cruised to a fifth GP win ahead of Verstappen which saw him inherit the title lead – and the first time since 2010 that an Australian led the drivers’ championship – as F1 heads Stateside for the Miami GP from 2-4 May with
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 50 | 1h ..m .. |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 50 | + 2.843 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 50 | + 8.104 |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 50 | + 9.196 |
| 5 | George Russell | Mercedes | 50 | + 27.236 |
| 6 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 50 | + 34.688 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 50 | + 39.073 |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 50 | + 64.630 |
| 9 | Alex Albon | Williams | 50 | + 66.515 |
| 10 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | 50 | + 67.091 |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 50 | + 75.917 |
| 12 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 50 | + 78.451 |
| 13 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 50 | + 79.194 |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 50 | + 99.723 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | 49 | + 1 Lap |
| 16 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 49 | + 1 Lap |
| 17 | Jack Doohan | Alpine | 49 | + 1 Lap |
| 18 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | 49 | + 1 Lap |
| RET | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | 1 | Collision |
| RET | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 0 | Collision |
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