By Ben Langley
Piastri Takes Championship Lead after comfortable Saudi Arabia Win following Verstappen penalty…
Oscar Piastri won his third race of the 2025 season and with that claims the championship lead following his commanding win on the streets of Jeddah.
The McLaren driver gained the lead after Max Verstappen was given a five-second penalty following his off-track pass on Piastri on Lap 1.
Charles Leclerc completed the podium places with an excellent drive to overtake George Russell and seal Ferrari’s first podium finish of the season.
The main talking point arose from the race start. Piastri, starting in second, got the better launch and found himself alongside pole-sitter Verstappen. Piastri had the inside line but Verstappen held it out around the outside but he ran out of road. The Red Bull driver cut the chicane and regained the lead from Piastri claiming he got forced off by the Australian.
An early safety car was deployed after a Turn 4 collision between Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly. The Alpine tried to get the upper hand around the outside, however two into one didn’t go. Both drivers ended up in the wall which forced both of their retirements.
On Lap 5, the safety car was brought in and as the restart began the news immediately followed of Verstappen’s 5-second penalty for gaining an unfair advantage.
The response of Verstappen was, let’s say, colourful. “Well, that is f***ing lovely” boasted the Dutchman. Verstappen held the lead until the pitstops, in which he served his penalty to fall behind Piastri.
Leclerc showed a great performance to finally show a glimmer of hope for Ferrari as he delivered the Scuderia’s first podium of the season.
Lando Norris’ recovery drive was strong as he opted to go long on the hard tyres in the opening stint. He got through on Hamilton and Antonelli early on before his stop 15 laps from the end. The rapid McLaren then got past Russell but the Ferrari of Leclerc was a step too far as he finished fourth.
The Mercedes duo of Russell and Antonelli claimed fifth and sixth respectively with Hamilton crossing the line in a lonely seventh.
Williams had a strong outing in Saudi Arabia. Carlos Sainz showed his best performance in the Grove-based team so far with an eighth-place finish, Albon came home in ninth. Isack Hadjar completed the points scorers to continue his good run of form.
Fernando Alonso remains pointless after finishing 11th, as the Haas team disappointed with Bearman 13th and Ocon 14th.
Piastri’s third win sees him take the lead in the Drivers Championship on 99 points, with Norris on 89 and Verstappen on 87.
McLaren extend their lead to 77 points over Mercedes in the Constructors Championship, with Williams climbing above Haas into fifth.
Formula 1 now heads to Miami in a couple of weeks’ time, with the big question being can Piastri continue his flying form.
Drivers Championship
Piastri 99
Norris 89
Verstappen 87
Russell 73
Leclerc 47
Constructors Championship
McLaren 188
Mercedes 111
Red Bull 89
Ferrari 78
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