Piastri beats Verstappen to the win and inherits championship lead, Leclerc bags his first 2025 podium
- Meghana Sree
- Apr 20
- 4 min read
Written by Meghana Sree
Our new championship-leader Oscar Piastri beat Max Verstappen to victory after the Dutchman got penalised for a Lap 1 gain off the track, while Charles Leclerc executed a daring extended stint on the mediums — climbing up to third.
The fifth edition of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah kicked off with drama and chaos, and it took just the first corner to continue the track’s streak of having a Safety Car in every year since its inaugural in 2021.
A bold start for Piastri saw the Australian driver move ahead of Verstappen to reach the apex first, but Verstappen fought back, cutting him across Turn 1. “He was never going to make that corner regardless of whether I was there or not,” was Piastri’s appeal. It was a slam dunk penalty five-second for Verstappen.
Meanwhile, the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda was damaged in an incident with Pierre Gasly, retiring both cars and bringing out the Safety Car on the opening lap.
After Verstappen's calculated restart as the Safety Car pulled in on Lap 4, Piastri tried to keep just within Verstappen’s five-second window, while the Red Bull driver was urged to push and build a gap.
Further down the grid, Lando Norris was making moves after starting in tenth, a result of crashing during Qualifying. Starting on the hard tyres, it was clear that he intended to go long and hope for a potential Safety Car late in the race.
Another driver who unexpectedly went on a long first stint was Leclerc, only the Ferrari driver was on the mediums. Halfway through the race, his medium tyres came to life as he managed to drag them for 30 complete laps, much more than the rest of the top five on mediums.
As the rest ahead of him peeled into the pits, crucially Piastri to undercut a Verstappen yet to serve his penalty, Leclerc inherited the race lead and finally boxed for hards which he carried to the chequered flag — defending from Norris on fresh mediums.
Leclerc’s teammate Hamilton had a rather quiet race, apart from his overtake exchanges with Norris early in the race. He’ll be both encouraged and frustrated with Leclerc’s performance today: happy with the car’s potential on race pace but irked to not ‘gel’ with the car as well as Leclerc.
A team that did not share Ferrari’s excellent performance with tyre wear was Mercedes, who were predicted for a podium with George Russell. Russell was one of the early stoppers at the front end, and frequently voiced concerns on whether his new hard tyres would last him till the end or not. Quipping that his tyres were “toast,” the Mercedes driver finished in fifth, followed by his rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli who managed to keep Hamilton at bay.
Hamilton in P7 finished ahead of Carlos Sainz, who sealed his second points finish with Williams. A team effort saw both Sainz and Alex Albon finish in the top ten, after the Spanish driver masterfully controlled a DRS train that prevented Isack Hadjar from overtaking the Williams pair.
Hadjar in the Racing Bulls pulled off a brilliant performance after starting in 14th and making up positions in the opening laps. His teammate Liam Lawson fared slightly worse, as he collected a damaging ten-second penalty for leaving the track and eventually finishing 12th.
Fernando Alonso split the Racing Bulls, surviving a precarious moment involving his protégé Gabriel Bortoleto who moved under braking.
The Haas duo of Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon had a sobering end to this triple-header, finishing P13 and P14 respectively off the back of a double-points finish last week. They now fall behind in the Constructors’ Championship, with Williams moving ahead by five points.
Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg reached the flag in 15th, after being passed early on by Sainz and then not having the pace to climb through the ranks, while his teammate Bortoleto pulled up last of the finishing drivers.
Jack Doohan was the sole Alpine for much of the race, and while he attempted to position his car ahead of his rivals in an effort to score his first points, he ultimately lost out in the scrap. With his future on the line, the Australian driver will need to pull off a better performance next round to secure his seat.
Yet the Australian with the biggest story from this Grand Prix is Piastri who after powering through to the win, is the new F1 Drivers’ Championship leader for the first time in his career. Sitting at 99 points, ten clear of Norris, Piastri has made a landmark statement in his contention for the title.
Sharing his thoughts after his fifth F1 win, Piastri said: “It was a pretty tough race. […] It was really tricky to follow out there, I couldn’t really stay with [Verstappen] at the end of the first stint, just chewed up my tyres and then the clean air was nice after the pit stops.
“Great race, we did the parts we needed to right. Still need a bit more I think, Max was a little bit too close for our liking but a great race and a great weekend.”
Over in the Constructors’ standings, the midfield ranks are switching up with every race, but it’s safe to say that Williams, and from time-to-time Haas, are the best of the rest.
Up next is Miami from 2nd to 5th May, where the battle will resume across the field.
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Results
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Max Verstappen, Red Bull +2.843
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +8.104
Lando Norris, McLaren +9.196
George Russell, Mercedes +27.236
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes +34.688
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari +39.073
Carlos Sainz, Williams +64.630
Alexander Albon, Williams +66.515
Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls +67.091
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +75.917
Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls +78.451
Oliver Bearman, Haas +79.194
Esteban Ocon, Haas +99.723
Nico Hülkenberg, Sauber +1 lap
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +1 lap
Jack Doohan, Alpine +1 lap
Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber +1 lap
Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull - DNF
Pierre Gasly, Alpine - DNF
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