Oscar Piastri has proven he has the tempo to combat for the Formula 1 title. In profitable the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday, he confirmed he can win an argument, too.
For the primary time this season, a penalty performed a key position in deciding a race win as Piastri went prime of the standings together with his victory.
Piastri’s two earlier wins this season had been dominant drives from pole place. This time he had to get previous four-time champion Max Verstappen.
Verstappen began on pole however went off the observe when battling for the lead with Piastri on the very first nook. He stayed in entrance however bought a five-second penalty. Piastri argued he had bought in entrance of Verstappen on the within of the nook and deserved the place.
“Once I got on the inside, I wasn’t coming out of turn one in second,” Piastri stated.
“I tried my best. Obviously, the stewards had to get involved. I thought I was plenty far enough up and that’s what won me the race.”
Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari and Piastri’s McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, completed fourth thanks to a wise technique and overtaking. Norris had began tenth following a crash in qualifying.
It was the second win in a row for Piastri, who took the victory in Bahrain final week and has three wins from 5 races this yr. He’d solely received two earlier than this season.
Piastri leads the standings by 10 factors from Norris, with Verstappen two factors additional again in third.
Piastri was three factors behind Norris going into Sunday’s race, partly due to a expensive spin at his house race in Australia, the primary GP of the season.
He turns into the primary Australian to lead the F1 standings since Mark Webber – who’s now Piastri’s supervisor – in 2010 as a Red Bull driver. No Australian has received the title since Alan Jones in 1980.
Piastri stated the penalty was what gave him the win. He had issues maintaining with Verstappen’s automobile earlier than the pit stops with out damaging his tires.
Piastri beat Verstappen off the road and was barely forward into the primary nook, just for Verstappen to run vast throughout the chicane. Following a crash between Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly seconds later, Piastri and Verstappen argued their circumstances over the radio whereas lined up behind the protection automobile.
Verstappen accused Piastri of forcing him off, however the stewards disagreed and gave the Dutch driver a five-second penalty for driving off-track and gaining a bonus. That was “lovely,” Verstappen reacted sarcastically. He had to serve the penalty parked at his pit cease earlier than the crew may contact the automobile to change tires.
Asked concerning the incident after the race, Verstappen as an alternative praised the followers and the observe and stated, “the rest is what it is.”
Norris recovered to fourth after beginning tenth.
Norris’ technique was the other of many of the area, beginning on the slower, longer-lasting onerous tires. It meant he briefly led the race after most different drivers had pitted earlier and will have put him ready to win if there was an incident requiring the protection automobile or pink flag whereas he was main.
There almost was a giant crash when Fernando Alonso and Gabriel Bortoleto banged wheels whereas battling for place close to the again of the sphere. Two-time champion Alonso ran right into a runoff space however stored his automobile below management.
Published – April 21, 2025 07:04 am IST
