Formula One - Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Falling asleep in the Arabian night

Formula One returns to Saudi Arabia for the fourth time as Aussie hero Oscar Piastri aims to become the first Australian to lead the World Drivers' Championship since 2010.

Photo: Lars Baron

QUALIFYING

The first competitive session of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend got underway under the light with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri trading fastest lap times throughout the session before Max Verstappen unexpectedly went fastest inside the final minute of qualifying one after what had been a difficult opening to the weekend for Red Bull.

Out in Q1: Stroll, Doohan, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Bortoleto

Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz stoked the hopes of Williams fans as they set the early fastest laps of qualifying two before the Q1 trio of Piastri, Verstappen and Norris made their way to the top of the timing boards. With just twenty-seconds left on the clock, Lawson momentarily pushed Hamilton out of the top ten but the struggling Ferrari driver found enough time in the final sector to get into qualifying three.

Out in Q2: Albon, Lawson, Alonso, Hadjar, Bearman

Qualifying three started with a bang, quite literally, as McLaren driver and current World Drivers Championship leader Lando Norris found himself in the wall at turn nineteen. The crash brought out the red flag with just eight and a half minutes left on the clock. Qualifying three then became a shootout between Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen, on the first run of the restarted session Verstappen bested Piastri by just one thousandth of a second. When it mattered Verstappen managed to find the time, with the help of a tow from teammate Yuki Tsunoda, to beat Piastri on his final run by one hundredth of a second, also setting a new lap record for the circuit.

Top 10: Verstappen, Piastri, Russell, Leclerc, Antonelli, Sainz, Hamilton, Tsunoda, Gasly, Norris

Photo: Giuseppe Cacace

RACE

As the lights went out for the fifth time in the 2025 Formula One World Championship Season, the drama started immediately. Piastri had a superb launch off the line compared to polesitter Max Verstappen, and went for a move up the inside into turn one, the McLaren driver made it to the apex fully alongside the four-time champion which, by the current overtaking regulations, allowed Piastri to take any line he liked into turn two. Verstappen cut the inside of turn two and rejoined in the lead of the race.

As the field made their way through turns three and four, Tsunoda and Gasly crashed. Gasly’s Alpine was stranded against the wall with significant damage but Tsunoda was able to get back to the pitlane where he would unfortunately be forced to retire. The safety car was called as the main pack made their way through the high-speed sector three, with Verstappen crucially still in front of Piastri. As the safety car came in on lap four the stewards ruled on the lap one incident between Piastri and Verstappen and assigned a five second penalty to Verstappen for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Piastri dropped back to about three seconds behind the race leader to use the penalty to his advantage in the pit cycle.

The early stages of the race saw Lando Norris making multiple overtakes from his starting position of tenth, the championship leader coming into the weekend desperate for some damage limitation after his crash in qualifying, by lap twenty Norris had made it up to fifth, overtaking Sainz, Hamilton and Antonelli in the space of thirteen laps.

Photo: Peter Fox

On lap twenty Piastri was the first into the pitlane, looking for an undercut on Verstappen who would also have to serve his five-second penalty in the pitlane. Crucially it took less than a lap out of the pitlane for Piastri to pass Lewis Hamilton, and the lap after Piastri both him and Lewis Hamilton exited turn one ahead of Max Verstappen as he left the pitlane. Verstappen then took two laps to pass Lewis Hamilton which allowed for Piastri to build a gap to the Red Bull Driver.

After the pit-cycle had finished Russell found himself struggling on his worn hard tyres and was overtaken by both Leclerc and Norris for third and fourth respectively. Despite Lando Norris’ best efforts he couldn’t get close enough for DRS on Leclerc on the final lap, and as the chequered flag fell it was his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri who took the win and moved himself into the lead of the World Drivers Championship, Max Verstappen came second after his early penalty and Charles Leclerc rounded out the podium in third.

LOOKING FORWARD TO MIAMI

The Miami Circuit will host the sixth round of the Formula One season on the 4th May, as the first American race sees the F1 grid take the streets around the Miami Dolphins Hard Rock Stadium. Previous races here have seen multiple crashes and a lot of drama. After his victory at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Oscar Piastri leads the drivers’ championship with 99 points, ten points over his McLaren teammate Norris, with Max Verstappen just two points behind with 87 points. Will Piastri be able to hold onto his championship lead, or will Lando Norris return to the top of the pile at the track where he won his first ever Formula One Grand Prix?

McLaren continue to lead the constructors’ championship with 188 points, 77 points ahead of Mercedes. Red Bull Racing sit third with 89 points, while Ferrari close the gap and Williams sit pretty in fifth with 25 points.