‘Give it back’: Storm erupts as ‘ice cold’ Oscar Piastri wins Saudi F1 Grand Prix
Australian driver Oscar Piastri roared “he needs to give that back!” after a controversial moment with Max Verstappen at the Saudi Grand Prix.
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McLaren’s Oscar Piastri won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from Red Bull pole sitter Max Verstappen to lead the world championship for the first time in his career.
Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari completed the podium for this fifth round of the season under the floodlights at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
There was a huge reaction across the F1 world, led by Piastri’s mother Nicole who tweeted: “Longest. Race. Ever.”
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F1 commentator Matt Gallagher described Piastri’s performance as “ice cold”.
F1 guru Martin Brundle said on Sky Sports Piastri’s cool head was an “ominous” sign for his McLaren teammate Lando Norris if they end up in a world championship duel this year.
Piastri’s third win this year was in large part decided at the first turn, when Verstappen picked up a five-second penalty for gaining an advantage after going off the track.
He becomes the first Australian to lead the drivers’ standings since his agent, Mark Webber, 15 years ago.
“Very happy to have won, made the difference at the start. Great race. “Max was still a bit too close for my liking!” Piastri said, after crossing the line 2.843 seconds clear of the four-time world champion.
An exhausted Piastri went on to say as fireworks lit up the night sky: “I’m looking for a couch! It was a pretty tough race.
“I made the difference at the start and made my case in to Turn One and that was enough.
“Definitely one of the toughest races I’ve had in my career so I’m happy I could come out on top in it.”
Verstappen was also ice cold when speaking with media after the race.
“It is what it is,” he said.
In another interview he simply said: “I’m going to keep it quite short. It’s been a great weekend along the track and the rest is what it is.”
It did not go unnoticed by commentators that Verstappen was cleary seething about the penalty, but did not want to say anything publicly in case his comments got him into trouble.
Piastri’s McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who went into the weekend leading the standings, took fourth ahead of the two Mercedes of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
As the sun dipped and the tension rose, the lights went out at the world’s fastest street circuit, a strip of asphalt hugging a lagoon on the Red Sea coastline.
Piastri got off to a flyer and was upsides Verstappen at the first corner but the Dutchman cut the chicane prompting Piastri to tell his team: “He needs to give that back, I was ahead.”
“He just forced me off,” was Verstappen’s verdict.
Behind, Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine tangled, bringing out the safety car and taking them both out of the race.
Racing resumed on lap three with news that Verstappen had been slapped with a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
On being told of his sanction the Dutchman responded with an expletive, adding: “That is lovely”.
He led Piastri on the restart, with Russell racing third and Leclerc fourth. Norris was up to eighth after starting way back on the fifth row — his car as good as new after all the ‘TLC’ showered on it last night by McLaren mechanics following Saturday’s major bust-up with a wall in qualifying.
Given his start handicap, the Briton took a gamble as the only one of the top 10 to start on hard tyres, rather than mediums.
Piastri was content to bide his time behind Verstappen, around a second back, safe in the knowledge that the lead was effectively his once Verstappen took his penalty.
“My tyres are toast,” Russell reported, with pit stops approaching.
On lap 20 with Norris up to fifth Piastri was the first of the leaders to come in to fit fresh rubber on his car.
Red Bull were gambling, urging Verstappen to give everything he could to stretch his lead before his stop.
The four-time champion came in on lap 22 to serve his penalty. Up front Leclerc and Norris, both yet to pit, led from Piastri, with Verstappen fourth.
Leclerc finally came in on lap 30, Norris following suit a couple of laps later to leave his teammate in firm control of the race, over four seconds clear of Verstappen.
Piastri held on to move on to 99 points in the race for the 2025 world title, 10 clear of Norris, with Verstappen a further two points back.
After this final leg of a frantic, not to say draining, triple-header, F1 takes a breather before its well-oiled circus pitches up again in Miami in a fortnight’s time.
Storm erupts over Max Verstappen penalty
Red Bull boss Christian Horner was just as frustrated as Verstappen when speaking about the penalty after the race.
“I don’t know where Max was supposed to go at that first corner. We’ve lost the race by 2.6 seconds, so it’s tough,” he told Sky Sports.
“I think the most positive thing for us today is that the pace was there. It was a very positive race. Congrats to Oscar, but disappointed not to get the win.”
FIA stewards issued an explanation for the penalty, stating simply that it was clear Piastri was “entitled to be given room” based on the position of his front axle being alongside the mirror of Verstappen’s car heading into the turn.
McLaren boss Zak Brown approved of the punishment handed down.
“I definitely thought a penalty was deserved. Oscar was clearly up the inside, got a better start, and you know, you need to use the race track,” he said.
“Whether it’s a five-second penalty or give the position back, I think it could go either way. I thought it was definitely appropriate. It was Oscar’s corner, and at some point you’ve got to concede.”
F1 Driver Standings
1. Oscar Piastri (AUS) McLaren Mercedes - 99 points
2. Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren Mercedes - 89
3. Max Verstappen (NED) Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT - 87
4. George Russell (GBR) Mercedes - 73
5. Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari - 47
- with AFP
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Originally published as ‘Give it back’: Storm erupts as ‘ice cold’ Oscar Piastri wins Saudi F1 Grand Prix