Oscar Piastri defeats Max Verstappen after Saudi Arabia penalty drama

Oscar Piastri took an assured victory in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, seeing off the threat of Max Verstappen for his third win of the season.

With it comes the F1 drivers' championship lead for the 24-year-old, after the Red Bull driver was handed a five-second time penalty for his robust defence on the Australian in the first corner of the race.

Charles Leclerc rounded out the podium positions, whilst Lando Norris put together a solid if unspectacular recovery drive to finish in fourth.

George Russell led home Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli, taking fifth and sixth, respectively, at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly came to blows on the opening lap, bringing out the safety car as both were forced into retirement after colliding at Turn 4.

The full race report from the 2025 F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is below.

Contentious start

Verstappen and Piastri engaged in hostilities immediately, going side by side through the first corner, with the Dutchman forced to take to the run-off area - as he famously did in 2021 amid his title fight with Lewis Hamilton. However, the Australian had fairly claimed the corner.

Further back, a clash between Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly triggered an immediate safety car deployment. The pair collided coming through Turn 4, sending the Frenchman into the wall and into retirement. The Red Bull tried to continue, but was also forced to end the race early.

Behind the safety car, Piastri came on team radio to insist Verstappen, who had been noted by race control for his actions, had to return the position. It was subsequently passed over to the stewards for further investigation. 

Jack Doohan, Esteban Ocon and Gabriel Bortoleto took the opportunity to pit before the race resumed at the start of lap 4 of 50.

Verstappen aced the restart, but official word from the stewards promptly came down to hand the four-time drivers' champion a five-second time penalty. Piastri, under considerable pressure from Russell and Leclerc, just held on to second place.

Opening phase

By lap 6, the Red Bull driver had broken free from DRS range, despite the McLaren behind owning the fastest lap.

Meanwhile, Norris had worked his way past the Williams of Carlos Sainz and sat in seventh on hard tyres, with Hamilton ahead on the mediums.

Out front, Verstappen was unable to escape. Piastri remains in touching distance, on the cusp of gaining DRS.

At the start of lap 13, Norris temporarily made his way past Hamilton for sixth, but the Ferrari driver took the position back immediately into the first corner.

One lap later, the seven-time drivers' champion let the McLaren by into the final corner to gain DRS for himself and repeat the same move into Turn 1 for a second time.

Norris caught wise as the pair headed onto lap 15, with the 25-year-old finally dispatching of his compatriot.

As the race entered the pit window, which opened on lap 16, Piastri began dropping back from Verstappen. The gap grew to over two seconds, but well within the extra five the Dutchman would lose in the pits.

Norris got past the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli at the start of lap 19, just before McLaren team-mate Piastri peeled into the pits, putting pressure on Red Bull and coming back out in sixth, despite a slightly slow stop.

The Milton Keynes team was unable to immediately respond, the penalty meaning he would emerge into traffic.

Russell pitted at the end of the following lap, with Verstappen responding to the move at the end of lap 21, covering off the British driver.

Closing stages

Once the leading trio had satisfied the mandatory pit stop requirement, they began working their way back into the podium positions.

At the start of lap 23, Leclerc from Norris and Piastri, with Hamilton separating the Australian from Verstappen. He would not lose too much time behind the Ferrari, which was promptly pitted.

However, the McLaren was on a mission, dropping fastest lap after fastest lap to grow the advantage over the Red Bull to over four seconds.

Lower down the order, Gabriel Bortoleto, in P16 and trying to avoid Liam Lawson ahead under braking into Turn 1, moved across his manager, Fernando Alonso. It was a close call between the pair but a touch of tyres was as serious as the consequences would be.

On lap 30, race leader Leclerc pitted to rid himself of his medium Pirellis, handing the lead to Norris in the process, who was yet to pit.

With the hard compound runners unhappy with the grip afforded by the tyre, McLaren extended the Briton until the end of lap 34 - good news for his team-mate who had complained of being in the dirty air at a couple of seconds back.

Norris came back out in fifth, on the yellow-walled tyres and in a good position to hunt down Leclerc and Russell for a podium finish. Although, at five seconds behind the Ferrari, he would have work to do.

Having reeled in the Mercedes, Leclerc worked his way into third at the start of lap 38. Meanwhile, Liam Lawson was handed a 10-second time penalty for going off track and gaining an advantage.

With 10 laps to go, Norris was noted by the race director for crossing the line at the pit exit. On track, however, he would clear Russell to take fourth.

He quickly built an advantage of over five seconds in case of a punishment from the stewards, but fortunately for the McLaren driver, it would be no further action.

Although he closed to one second behind the Monegasque driver, it would not be enough to complete his comeback, instead having to settle for finishing just off the rostrum.