JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Oscar Piastri has taken the lead in the drivers` championship for the first time in his career, achieving his third victory of the season at Sunday`s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver won against Max Verstappen after the reigning champion received a five-second penalty. This penalty was for leaving the track and gaining an advantage during a battle with Piastri in the first corner of the race.
Lando Norris, Piastri`s teammate, finished in fourth place. Norris had a difficult qualifying session on Saturday, starting tenth on the grid. This result means Norris is now 10 points behind Piastri in the championship standings, having lost another 13 points.
Piastri commented on the race, mentioning the heat: “I need a couch! It was a challenging race, and I`m really happy to have won. I made my move in Turn 1, and that was enough. Clean air after the pit stops was helpful, and we executed our strategy perfectly.”
He added, “We still have areas to improve, but it was a fantastic race and weekend overall.”
Piastri`s victory was heavily influenced by the first corner. He had a better start than Verstappen, who began on pole position, positioning his McLaren ahead of the Red Bull at Turn 1.
Verstappen found himself on the inside of Turn 2 and, attempting to overtake Piastri, was forced to cut the corner to avoid a collision.
Despite Verstappen initially maintaining the lead, race stewards determined that he had gained an unfair advantage by leaving the track. Consequently, he was given a five-second penalty during his first pit stop.
This penalty allowed Piastri to get ahead of Verstappen by three seconds after both drivers made their single pit stops. Throughout the remainder of the race, Piastri controlled the lead and faced no significant challenge from Verstappen after the pit stops.
This victory, Piastri`s fifth in his career, puts him ten points ahead of Norris in the championship and twelve points ahead of Verstappen.
Norris made good progress at the beginning of the race, partly due to a first-lap incident between Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly, who were both ahead of him on the grid.
Initially, Norris struggled to overtake Lewis Hamilton for sixth place. Hamilton strategically allowed Norris to pass at the final corner for two consecutive laps, only to retake the position at Turn 1.
Norris adapted, executing a cleaner pass on Andrea Kimi Antonelli for fifth. Utilizing an alternative strategy, he switched to fresher tires and overtook George Russell for fourth place with ten laps remaining.
Norris closed within just over a second of Charles Leclerc, who finished third. However, Leclerc maintained his position after a strong race starting from fourth.
Leclerc stated after the race, “I was very pleased with the race, we got the most out of everything. It was intense in the car, and I didn`t expect to finish on the podium, so it`s a great result.”
He added, “We need to keep pushing and hope for upgrades soon to improve the car.”
Russell finished fifth for Mercedes, followed by teammate Antonelli in sixth, Hamilton`s Ferrari in seventh, and Williams drivers Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon in eighth and ninth respectively.
Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls secured the final point in tenth place.
Standings | Calendar | Teams
Rupert Caldwell 
Tristan Blackwood