BACK-TO-BACK WINS: Oscar Piastri was again on top at the Saudi Arabian Formula One Grand Prix.
Image: AFP
Alan Baldwin, in JEDDAH – Oscar Piastri won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday and seized the Formula One championship lead from McLaren teammate Lando Norris with his third win in five races.
Red Bull's four-times champion Max Verstappen was runner-up, 2.843 seconds behind the Australian, after starting from pole at Jeddah's Corniche circuit, with Charles Leclerc taking Ferrari's first podium of 2025 in third.
Norris finished fourth, after racing back from 10th.
Verstappen's plan unravelled within seconds of the start when he and Piastri went wheel-to-wheel into the first corner, with the champion running wide to stay ahead and collecting a five second penalty that he served in the pits.
"It was a pretty tough race. I’m very, very happy to have won. Made the difference at the start. Made my case into Turn One, and that was enough," said Piastri after 50 laps in 30 degree heat.
"Definitely one of the toughest races I've had in my career," he added.
Victory made Piastri, triumphant in Bahrain last weekend and China last month, the first Australian to lead the championship since his manager Mark Webber in 2010 and also the first back-to-back winner this season.
He now leads Norris, whose race was heavily compromised by a crash in qualifying, by 10 points after starting the night three behind.
Piastri has 99 points to Norris's 89 and Verstappen's 87. Champions McLaren stretched their lead over Mercedes in the constructors' standings to 77 points.
"I'm not bothered that I am leading the world championship but I am proud of the hard work we have done to get here. I want to be leading the championship after round 24, not round five," said the Australian.
George Russell was fifth for Mercedes with Italian teammate Kimi Antonelli sixth and seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton seventh for Ferrari.
Williams had Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon eighth and ninth with Racing Bulls' French rookie Isack Hadjar the final points scorer in 10th.
The talking point of the race happened moments from the off as the top two fought for the lead with Piastri getting a better launch.
Piastri held his ground, making the corner but still behind Verstappen who did not give the place back after going off and cutting the corner. Both appeared convinced they were in the right.
"He needs to give that back, I was ahead," Piastri told McLaren over the team radio. "He was never going to make that corner regardless of whether he was there or not."
Verstappen gave his version in similar fashion to Red Bull: "He just forced me off, there was no intention of him to make that corner."
Stewards said later, after reviewing data, that it was Piastri's corner but they had given Verstappen only a five second penalty rather than the usual 10 because it occurred on the first lap and corner.
Verstappen reacted at the time by saying sarcastically "Oh, that is lovely", and said little after the race, while Red Bull boss Christian Horner said it was an incident that "we've all got our opinions on".
The safety car continued a sequence of appearing at all five races in Saudi Arabia to date when Verstappen's teammate Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine's Pierre Gasly collided and crashed on the opening lap.
Both drivers retired, Tsunoda after getting his car back to the pits.
Norris started on the hard tyres, compared to other frontrunners on mediums, and led for four laps after those ahead pitted.
After eking the tyres out for 34 laps he pitted for mediums and gave chase to Leclerc, who was by now on the hard tyre after a similarly impressive opening stint on mediums, from fifth before running out of time.
Leclerc passed Russell on lap 37, with the Briton worrying about tyre wear and also passed by Norris nine laps from the finish.