24.04.2025
Latest

Piastri shocks F1, beats Verstappen to lead Championship

7 mins



  • Piastri on top of the world with his team, with a lot more winning to do

4 minutes

McLaren’s new leader in the driver’s standings in the race to Formula One’s world championship, Oscar Piastri, proved on Sunday in winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that he will not be intimidated by current world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

Piastri was a picture of calm, while Verstappen refused to speak about a driving incident on the first turn involving the two, which ultimately dictated the outcome of the race.

Piastri overtook his teammate, Lando Norris, at the top of the drivers’ standings, and while it is still early days, it means McLaren has to manage their two drivers very carefully.

Piastri won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the first turn, when he held his line and refused to be intimidated by four-time world champion Max Verstappen.

Verstappen incurred a five-second penalty, which ensured that Piastri would eventually take the lead and use the clean air to cruise to his third victory in the first five races of the season.

“Once I got on the inside, I was not coming out of turn one in second, so I tried my best. Obviously the stewards had to get involved, but I thought I was plenty far enough up, so in the end that is what got me the race,” says Piastri.

Piastri is the first Australian to lead the drivers’ standings since Mark Webber, and after back-to-back wins, he has a ten-point lead over Norris and a twelve-point lead over Verstappen.

Verstappen settled for second place and was far more guarded when questioned about the first turn of the Grand Prix.

“I am going to keep it quite short. I just want to say a big thank you to the fans in Jeddah. It has been a great weekend. I love the track and the race. It is what it is. I am looking forward to Miami, so I’ll see you there,” says Verstappen.

Norris, meanwhile, recovered from a crash in qualifying to take fourth place. But he lost the lead in the drivers’ standings and will need this upcoming fortnight’s break to regroup ahead of Miami.

“I make life tough for myself, especially when it is a race like that, so it would have been a lot easier and more chilled just to drive at the front. It just makes it a bit easier, so I have to help myself out a little bit and have better Saturdays,” says Norris.

McLaren is now managing their two drivers, but as team principal Andrea Stella points out, it is still the beginning of the season, and with 19 races to go, it’s a good start, but there is still plenty of racing to be done.

“Great race by Oscar and also great race by Lando. We really wanted to recover after yesterday’s qualifying. He did it very well. I think the strategy of starting on the hard tires did pay off and allowed us to have some clean air and exploit the pace of the car, and very good points for Lando. Like he said in the in-lap, he needs to polish a little bit his Saturdays, and he will be alright, so I look forward to the future races, and in the meantime, we enjoy a strong start to the season.” 

The Miami Grand Prix in two weeks time will also bring an added level of hype that drivers will need to be able to cope with.

 

Related News