Oscar Piastri secured a serene and dominant win under the Jeddah lights, capitalizing on a five-second time penalty for Max Verstappen and executing a merciless undercut to seize control of the race. It was the third win of the season for the McLaren driver—and it sends him to the summit of the Drivers’ Championship for the first time in his fledgling Formula 1 career.
Verstappen Penalised for Defense
The action began immediately as the lights went out. Verstappen made a clean start from pole, but Piastri—beside him on the front row—was pushed hard into Turn 1. Verstappen’s strong defence saw the McLaren man scrambling across the kerb in evasion, with the stewards launching an investigation almost immediately.
Ten laps later, the call was made: Verstappen had not left a car’s width at the apex and was handed a five-second penalty. The Dutchman was furious over the radio, claiming to have done nothing wrong, but the damage was done—it would now have to try to build a gap to nullify the penalty or risk losing the lead through strategy.
Safety Car Shakes Things Up After Turn 2 Collision
Earlier, on lap 1, there was mayhem in the midfield. AlphaTauri team-mates Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda engaged in a bizarre incident at Turn 2, with both drivers apparently underestimating the concertina effect of the pack in front. Tsunoda was momentarily airborne as he was launched by Gasly, and he crawled back to the pits with suspension damage, with Gasly’s car too damaged to continue.
The Safety Car was deployed before the field had even completed the first lap, providing teams with an early breather—but also neutralising any opening-lap gains.
McLaren Shadows Red Bull
At the Lap 4 rolling restart, Verstappen got the jump once again, with Piastri in hot pursuit. The two quickly broke away from Charles Leclerc, who had managed to hold onto third after fending off George Russell’s advances.
Piastri was in DRS range for some laps but was unable to make a move and eventually dropped out of range on Lap 7. Verstappen began to push, attempting to build a buffer to serve his penalty, but Piastri kept the gap at a manageable 2.5 to 3 seconds.
Hard Tyre Runners Roll the Dice Early
Whereas the leaders stuck to the conventional medium-start strategy, several midfield teams gambled. Lando Norris, Isack Hadjar, Lance Stroll and Nico Hülkenberg all started on the hard compound tyre, clearly strategizing for a long opening stint and a soft-tyre sprint to the flag.
The pick of these early runners was Norris, who stole Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli away with a tidy move into Turn 1 on Lap 19—his tyres still running strong well into the stint.
Undercut Masterstroke
McLaren made the race-defining call on Lap 20, bringing Piastri in for an undercut attempt. A slightly slow stop—3.4 seconds—lost him time briefly, and he came out behind Lewis Hamilton. With fresher tyres, however, Piastri wasted no time passing the Ferrari, diving by into Turn 1 just two laps later.
Verstappen responded by pitting on Lap 22, but the loss of time serving his five-second penalty cost him to both Piastri and Hamilton. Though he took Hamilton on the outlap with a bold lunge into the hairpin, the McLaren now led on the road by more than four seconds.
Leclerc and Norris Run Long, Shake Up the Order
Leclerc, in third, extended his medium stint as far as Lap 30. His stop was perfect, and he came out behind Russell but soon despatched the Mercedes with a copybook DRS maneuver on the main straight.
Norris ran even longer, not pitting until Lap 35. He came out in fifth on fresh mediums and was immediately on the attack—lapping faster than anyone on track and posing a threat to Leclerc in the closing stages.
The midfield, meanwhile, were fighting a fierce battle. Antonelli, in just his fifth race, was driving one of his most level-headed races to date as he resisted pressure from Hamilton and Carlos Sainz. The rookie would eventually finish sixth—his best result to date—a consolidation of a good weekend for Mercedes.
Backmarkers Temporarily Add Drama
As the race entered the final 10 laps, Verstappen began to reel in Piastri, aided in part by traffic. The McLaren driver was briefly held up by a slower than expected Lance Stroll and then by Gabriel Bortoleto, who was shown the blue flag warning but did not move over quickly.
The gap dropped to 3.5, then 2.3 seconds with five laps left, as Verstappen set the fastest lap while pushing to the limit. But after Piastri cleared the traffic, he responded—extending the gap once more to 2.8 seconds at the chequered flag.
Penalties, Protests and Rookie Resilience
Behind the lead quintet, Antonelli held off Hamilton for P6 in a high-pressure situation, showing great maturity. Hamilton was forced to settle for seventh after tyre degradation problems in the final stint.
Sainz, in the second Williams, had a quiet but productive race to P8, ahead of Alex Albon in the upgraded Williams, who was once again impressive in extracting the best from his package and strategy.
Norris Cleared After Investigation
Lando Norris had been under post-race investigation for allegedly crossing the pit exit line but stewards did not pursue the issue further after reviewing telemetry and video.
Lawson had initially crossed the line in 10th but was handed a 10-second penalty for gaining an advantage off-circuit when defending against Doohan, demoting him to 12th. That left the final point in the pocket of Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar, who benefited from late drama to secure his second points finish of the season.
Piastri Tops the Championship as McLaren Resurgence Continues
With three wins from five races and the momentum very much in his favour, Oscar Piastri now holds a ten-point World Championship lead over his teammate. Post-race, he admitted the pressure in the race was enormous but praised the team’s strategy and their cool heads under pressure.
“We knew Max had a penalty, so the undercut was always the play,” Piastri said. “The car felt great, even when I had to manage tyres late on. The team nailed it.”
As the paddock packs up from Saudi Arabia, it’s clear the 2025 title fight is wide open—and McLaren are very much in the thick of it.