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Tyres NorthamptonA five-second penalty altered the course of the race and sees the McLaren vs Red Bull rivalry take another turn in 2025.
The race was destined to be a Verstappen vs Piastri battle after Lando Norris' Qualifying crash left the Briton out of the fight. Verstappen had pipped the Australian to pole position by just 0.010s, yet it was Piastri to lead at Turn 1. A better launch for the Melbourne man had him steal the inside line from Verstappen for the first corner.
Verstappen, however, wasn't happy to let Piastri take the lead. A dive across the run-off area meant the Red Bull remained in P1, with both drivers arguing about the move over the team radio. Piastri claimed Verstappen would never have made the corner, while Verstappen said Piastri left him no room. The stewards sided with McLaren and promptly handed the Dutchman a five-second penalty to serve at his pit stop.
Although an annoyed Verstappen continued believing he was in the right, the race didn't allow him a chance to cede the position if Red Bull instructed him to. A crash with his teammate Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine's Pierre Gasly in the opening sector triggered an early race Safety Car. Bernd Maylander has led the field from the Safety Car in every edition of the Jeddah race, and 2025 continued that trend.
The restart coincided with the stewards' decision on the Verstappen-Piastri incident, and Verstappen maximised his getaway to leave Piastri fending off George Russell and Charles Leclerc. The McLaren pace kept Piastri ahead, and he set to work in keeping close to Verstappen to ensure he'd become the leader once the penalty was applied.
Norris, meanwhile, began his fightback, too. The midfield start meant the second McLaren had to navigate the slower cars surrounding him to push for the podium. Carlos Sainz was the first to fall, but the next target proved much stiffer opposition. Lewis Hamilton wasn't on the pace of the sister Ferrari but showed he still had racecraft when defending.
Norris twice passed the seven-time champion into the final hairpin, and Hamilton twice retook the position with DRS down the start-finish straight. Norris was always going to win the scrap, but the time lost fighting Hamilton delayed him from later advances on the podium. When every point looks like it'll count this year, Norris might wish he learned his lesson quicker against his compatriot when the season ends.
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The pit stop phase saw Piastri take the race lead with ease. McLaren stopped their driver before Red Bull pulled in Verstappen, which paid off in spades. Although Hamilton got in the way of a second McLaren driver, Piastri wasted no time using his fresh Pirelli tyre grip to sweep by. He was comfortably clear of Verstappen by the time the champion stopped and served his penalty and would stay ahead until the flag.
McLaren's only remaining headache was when to stop Norris. They had split the tyre strategy by starting Piastri on Mediums, while Norris began on the white-walled Hard compound. McLaren chose to stop their British hope when Piastri closed in on the other papaya car and complained about dirty air. Norris returned to the track with the faster Medium tyres but only with 15 laps to push for the podium.
Russell was the driver who enjoyed the P3 placement in the first stint, but Ferrari's surprise pace meant Leclerc had reeled in the Mercedes after the pit stops. A relatively straightforward pass with DRS down to Turn 1 handed the Monegasque third place as Russell struggled with his Hards. The pain doubled when Norris did the same move a few laps later, demoting the Silver Arrow to P5 from a P3 start.
Norris, however, went no further. His time lost fighting Hamilton meant he ran out of laps to challenge the other Ferrari for silverware. Leclerc crossed the line one second ahead of Norris to secure the Scuderia their first podium trip of 2025 in an otherwise underwhelming season. Yet Piastri was the happiest man in the Middle East after winning in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. F1 heads to Miami in a fortnight with Piastri as the new man to beat on a winning trajectory.