2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Recap

By Ryan Wu

Piastri Shines Bright

After five races—and perhaps to no one’s surprise—a McLaren driver is leading the World Championship standings. What may be surprising, however, is which McLaren driver is on top. Oscar Piastri, following his victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, now leads the championship for the first time in his career, holding a 10-point advantage over his teammate Lando Norris, who was widely considered the title favorite heading into the season.

Piastri earned a front-row start in qualifying, narrowly missing out on pole to Max Verstappen by just one hundredth of a second. Norris, on the other hand, qualified 10th after a crash in Q3 prevented him from setting a lap time.

When the lights went out, the race quickly turned dramatic. At the first corner, Verstappen appeared to overtake Piastri off-track and retained the position. Moments later, a collision between Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly brought out the safety car, with both drivers retiring from the race.

Racing resumed on lap 3, and the stewards soon ruled Verstappen’s lap-1 move illegal, handing him a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. A close battle followed between McLaren and Red Bull, but Piastri made his pit stop two laps earlier than Verstappen—on lap 19—after reporting his medium tires were losing grip.

From there, Piastri delivered a stellar drive, fending off Verstappen and crossing the line with a 2.8-second margin to claim victory. He needed every ounce of his skill as the reigning World Champion was closing down the gap and would have ultimately won the race without the penalty that was issued. Verstappen continued to extract every percent of performance out of what has been a fickle car to handle.  His performance in the past two weeks proves that he is not to be written off to win another title.

Verstappen and Red Bull Sound Off on Stewards Decision

After the race, Max Verstappen expressed hesitation about commenting on the penalty decision, saying he didn’t feel he could speak out for fear of being further penalized. His concern stems from a controversial FIA policy introduced last year—often dubbed a "swear jar"—which restricts certain language during press conferences. Under this rule, drivers face potential sanctions ranging from fines and points deductions to race bans for inappropriate language. Verstappen himself was handed community service last year after swearing during the Singapore Grand Prix press conference.

Team Principal Christian Horner was also asked about Red Bull’s decision not to instruct Verstappen to give up the position following the Turn 1 incident. According to Horner, the team believed Verstappen was not at fault and was simply avoiding the turbulent air behind Piastri’s car. Additionally, the deployment of the safety car shortly after the incident made it difficult—if not impossible—for Verstappen to return the position, as position swaps are generally prohibited under safety car conditions.

Tale of Two Ferraris

Charles Leclerc continues his under-the-radar start to the season, securing Ferrari’s first podium finish of the year. He overtook George Russell on lap 38 and held off a late charge from Lando Norris to clinch third place. Leclerc has now outperformed his teammate Lewis Hamilton in every race so far and leads the qualifying head-to-head 4–1.

Hamilton, meanwhile, finished seventh and expressed concern after the race, warning that a difficult season may lie ahead if his current struggles persist. He has already tempered expectations for the upcoming Miami Grand Prix, saying he’s unlikely to be competitive there. While some growing pains were anticipated following his move to Ferrari, the seven-time World Champion's start has been underwhelming. He currently sits seventh in the Drivers’ Championship—seven points behind Kimi Antonelli, the young driver set to replace him at Mercedes next season.

The Prancing Horse has struggled during qualifying compared to their rivals as Leclerc qualified 0.376 seconds off Verstappen’s pole position lap, and this is with a new upgraded package brought to Jeddah. Podiums are great but if the team is serious about building off its strong finish to 2024, time is quickly running out to make a challenge for this year’s titles as they are now 52 points off the Drivers’ Championship lead and 110 points off the Constructors’.

Quick Hits

• Williams celebrated its second double points finish of the season, with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon finishing P8 and P9, respectively. The result boosts the team to fifth in the Constructors’ Championship—an encouraging sign as the midfield battle intensifies.

• Rookie sensation Kimi Antonelli continued his impressive debut campaign, qualifying fifth and finishing sixth. He now extends his rookie standings lead to 32 points over fellow newcomer Oliver Bearman.

• Another rookie, Isack Hadjar, also had a strong showing, finishing 10th and securing his second points finish of the season.

• Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda’s struggles since his promotion to Red Bull continued. A lap 1 collision with Pierre Gasly forced his retirement, marking another frustrating weekend. Tsunoda has scored just two points in three races with the team, with his best result so far being a ninth-place finish in Bahrain last weekend.

Racing Refresh Driver of the Day

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Final Points Finishing Positions

1st: Oscar Piastri

2nd: Max Verstappen

3rd: Charles Leclerc

4th: Lando Norris

5th: George Russell

6th: Kimi Antonelli

7th: Lewis Hamilton

8th: Carlos Sainz

9th: Alex Albon

10th: Isack Hadjar

Next on the F1 Schedule:

Miami Grand Prix: May 2nd-4th