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Al Arabiya
21-04-2025
- Automotive
- Al Arabiya
2025 F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Key takeaways as Oscar Piastri wins again
One of the highlights of Saudi Arabia's sporting calendar returned for its fifth edition this past weekend as Formula One's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix took place again in Jeddah. The race, which has been hosted at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit since 2021, was won on Sunday by Australian Oscar Piastri – with reigning world champion Max Verstappen second and Charles Leclerc third. As with most F1 races, there were plenty of twists, turns and interesting storylines to emerge from the weekend. Here, Al Arabiya English brings you the key takeaways from the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. First corner costs Verstappen Max Verstappen may have won the past four F1 Drivers' Championship in a row, but the Red Bull driver has endured a fairly unhappy start to the 2025 season. Verstappen managed to complete a wire-to-wire win in Japan earlier this month, but failed to emulate that achievement in Saudi Arabia despite qualifying in pole position once again. It means the Dutchman has begun his latest title defense with just one victory from his first five races. In Jeddah, Verstappen produced an excellent display in qualifying to start at the front of the grid. However, a mistake at the very first corner cost Verstappen dearly. Race officials judged that he had cut the first corner in order to prevent McLaren's Oscar Piastri from overtaking him. Verstappen maintained the race lead until his first pit stop but was forced to serve a five-second time penalty for the earlier incident. The reigning world champion came out behind new race leader Piastri, who produced a professional drive to take the chequered flag. Verstappen finished just 2.8 seconds behind Piastri, indicating that – remarkably, in a 50-lap race – his mistake at the first corner had cost him the victory. Afterwards, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner later argued that the decision to penalize Verstappen had been the wrong one. 'You can clearly see that at the apex of the corner, we believe that Max is clearly ahead,' Horner said. 'Without that five-second penalty today it would have been a win. When you look at that, I can't see how they got to that conclusion. Oscar has run deep into the corner, Max can't just disappear at that moment in time. I don't know what happened to 'let them race'. That seems to have been abandoned.' Professional Piastri leads championship Heading into the 2025 F1 season, most motorsport analysts anticipated a repeat of last year's tussle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris for the Drivers' Championship. But while Norris got off to a great start with victory in the curtain-raising Australian Grand Prix, it is his McLaren team-mate Piastri who has emerged in recent weeks as the man to beat this season. Piastri suffered a disastrous opening race in his hometown of Melbourne, but has since turned his season around – winning in China before completing a Gulf double by triumphing in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Piastri qualified in second place in Jeddah but it was the Australian's electric start that forced Verstappen into the error that ultimately decided the Grand Prix. Demonstrating admirable patience, Piastri had to bide his time until Verstappen pitted; from that moment on, he produced a faultless drive to bring his McLaren home in first place. Piastri also provided one of the race's most eye-catching overtakes – narrowly squeezing past Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari with a daring maneuver at a section of the circuit not known as an established spot for passing. '[I am] Very, very happy to have won, that was a tough race,' Piastri said. 'We've put a lot of work into our starts recently, and in the end, that's played a big part in the victory. It was really tricky out there at times, chewing up the tires, but once we got into clean air it was nice. The team did a great job executing the strategy and we did all the parts right that we needed to. We've still got work to do, it's very close at the front, but it's been a great weekend.' Norris recovery not enough Lando Norris could probably have predicted that he would relinquish his Drivers' Championship lead on Sunday. A crash in qualifying on Saturday – which saw him tag the kerb on the exit of Turn 4 before careering into the barrier – meant Norris started the race in 10th place. While most drivers started the Grand Prix on medium tires, he began on a hard compound before switching later. It made things challenging for the Brit early on but he rallied well to move through the field, immediately aided by a first-lap crash between Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda ahead of him that took both drivers out of the race. Still, Norris then overtook Lewis Hamilton, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Carlos Sainz Jr and George Russell to climb to fourth place, and was chasing down Ferrari's Leclerc right to the end – finishing just a second behind the Monegasque driver. The result leaves Norris 10 points behind McLaren team-mate and new championship leader Piastri, and two ahead of Verstappen. 'That was a tough one,' Norris said after the race. 'This track is tough, this temperature is tough and it's flat out… I was struggling – not in terms of physically, but just in terms of having enough of an advantage over the rest to come back through as much as I would have wanted. [But] I'm happy with my comeback. It's the best that I could achieve and now I'm looking forward to a break. Clearly, I've got the pace. It's just sometimes I try to ask for a bit too much and sometimes I get a bit too eager for a little bit more and I just need to chill out a little bit.' Improvement for Ferrari With a blockbuster new driver pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, expectation was high among Ferrari officials and fans that the team – which finished as runner-up in the 2024 Constructors' Championship – could close the gap on McLaren this season. But aside from a sprint race victory for Hamilton in China, there has been little for Ferrari to smile about so far. In Jeddah, however, Ferrari finally claimed its first podium of the season as Leclerc held off a late challenge from Norris to finish third. Having been eighth in the Australian Grand Prix and disqualified at the Chinese Grand Prix, Leclerc has bounced back – following up a pair of fourth places in Japan and Bahrain with third in Saudi Arabia. Leclerc's disciplined drive saw him rein in the Mercedes of George Russell, who had qualified a place ahead, and overtake – before fending off Norris right up until the finish line. 'We absolutely maximized everything this weekend,' Leclerc reflected afterwards. 'We executed the race perfectly, both in terms of strategy and the pit stop. Our mechanics have worked very hard to arrive at this level and I'm really proud of the job our team did today. We made the most of it. Looking forward, we have to focus on qualifying… we will work on finding the right balance there and push to make another step forward.' For veteran team-mate Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, it was another frustrating Grand Prix. The British driver finished in seventh and though there was an exciting tussle with Norris at one stage, it was an otherwise uneventful race for Hamilton. Afterwards, the 40-year-old – a winner of the Saudi Grand Prix in 2021 – lamented a 'a challenging weekend with a lack of pace and consistency' but promised he is 'focused on working with the team and seeing what we can bring to Miami' in the next Grand Prix on May 4.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
F1 Free Agent to Be George Russell in No Hurry to Extend With Mercedes
George Russell says he is in no hurry to sort out his Mercedes contract for 2026. Russell is slightly out of sync with the majority of the other front-runners, having signed a two-year extension in the summer of 2023, covering 2024 and 2025. Mercedes has continually been linked with a move for champion Max Verstappen—in the event that he opts to leave Red Bull—while the team promoted Kimi Antonelli for 2025 as part of its long-term strategy. 'From my side, there's no stress whatsoever regarding a contract,' Russell said. 'Ultimately, contracts are in place in Formula 1 and things change very quickly. I believe in myself. You have to perform and it's pretty much as simple as that. And when it comes down to contract discussions, I think with us in the past, with Toto [Wolff], it's taken no more than 24 hours to have the conversation, and then it goes to the lawyers and we get something in place. "So, there is no rush from my side, there's no concerns, there's no pressure. I'm enjoying where I'm at in the sport right now and enjoying my performance and just enjoying going racing. That's the main priority right now.' The 27-year-old Russell finished fifth at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday and is fourth in the F1 Drivers' Championship standings.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Rivals Peg McLaren the Favorites, as F1 Gears Up for Opener in Melbourne
opens its much anticipated 2025 campaign Saturday night midnight (ET) in Melbourne. Many are anticipating reigning Constructors' champions McLaren to pick up where they left off in 2024, On whether he was the favorite, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri said: 'I don't know, we'll see." Rival teams are pointing to McLaren as favorites for 2025 as Formula 1's new campaign springs to life in this weekend in Australia. It will be the first time that Melbourne's Albert Park Street Circuit has hosted the opening round of the season since 2019, and there is a renewed energy at a season starting in a favored location among the paddock, rather than the sometimes sterile surroundings of Bahrain. Teams are still understanding their new cars, half the grid are forging fresh relationships in new surroundings—none more so prominently than Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari—while there are five rookies, including 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli, and a half-rookie in Liam Lawson. The weather forecast is also suggesting that there will be an additional curveball, with qualifying on Saturday set to take place in very hot conditions, before rain sweeps through the area for Sunday's race. Many are anticipating reigning Constructors' champions McLaren to pick up where they left off in 2024, judging by the performance shown during preseason testing. 'I know we are not the quickest at the moment,' said reigning four-time World Champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing. Verstappen's sentiments were echoed by new teammate Lawson, who is the only driver on the grid with no prior experience of Albert Park. 'In preseason, you don't really get the clearest of indications, but we know McLaren are strong – probably stronger than us at the moment, but we won't truly know until qualifying.' Mercedes' George Russell also outlined that 'we know McLaren are the favorites,' pointing to their end of 2024 form and testing pace. It is impossible to walk around Melbourne and not be struck by the presence of local boy Oscar Piastri, who is entering his third season in Formula 1 with McLaren. Piastri's face adorns billboards, trams and murals in the city, while he has even teamed up with a fast food chain to produce his own branded burger for the week. On whether he was the favorite, Piastri said: 'I don't know, we'll see. I know what you want me to say and everyone's headline can be that. No one really knows what to expect, testing went pretty well, but you don't know where everyone sits. 'We're pretty happy with how our test went, but Melbourne's completely different to Bahrain, the weather will be different every hour by the looks of things, but we expect to be somewhere at the front, whether that's right at the pointy end we'll wait until Saturday.' Lando Norris, second in the F1 Drivers' Championship last year, was also reluctant to fully accept the tag of favorite. 'I know there's a lot of expectation, and it's what everyone says,' Norris said. 'Really it was my one race run I did [during testing], kind of just made everyone believe this quite heavily. It was a good race run, but it was also in the most perfect conditions. Oscar did a race run the next day that was a lot slower, not because he drove worse, but simply because the conditions on the final day were considerably slower. 'I'm quite surprised so many people are short-sighted, especially people you wouldn't expect to be, making so many conclusions before we've even started the season. 'Everyone just wants to play that game of looking like the underdog and playing it down. We just focus on ourselves. It's nice that so many people are thinking about us and talking about us, great publicity for us so I thank all of them. 'There are many things that other people didn't see where other people looked extremely strong, including Red Bull, including Mercedes, including Ferrari, and I know how much fuel and stuff Ferrari had for a lot of the testing. You'd be surprised at how quick they're going to be this weekend. People can talk all they want. I think for us, we've kept to ourselves, we've kept focused. "We want to be quick, we expect to be up there fighting, but I definitely don't think by the margin that everyone is saying.'
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
F1 Team Preview: How Max Verstappen Can Match Michael Schumacher's Streak
Max Verstappen claimed a fourth consecutive F1 Drivers' Championship in 2024, but Red Bull Racing relinquished its Constructors' title. Can it challenge for more hardware again in 2025? You bet it can. Here's a look at Red Bull Racing heading into the 2025 campaign:Lewis Hamilton's departure from Mercedes means Max Verstappen and Red Bull is now the longest current team/driver partnership, with 2025 the tenth season between the parties, and he is contracted through the 2028 season. Liam Lawson (pictured) has landed the golden ticket at a front-running team after just 11 Grands Prix across two partial seasons with the junior outfit, taking the place of Sergio Racing Bulls driver Yuki Tsunoda would get the call-up if either Verstappen or Lawson were Horner (pictured, left) has now been team principal and CEO of Red Bull Racing for a full 20 years, having survived the scandal that rocked the team in early 2024. Advisor Helmut Marko's power has been reduced in recent years, but he remains a close ally of Bull stood down Adrian Newey early last year from direct Formula 1 involvement following confirmation of his departure, and his removal coincided with the team's drop in performance—though a correlation was dismissed by boss Horner. Newey has since moved on to Aston Martin, and this season's RB21 will be the first car without his direct input. Red Bull is also without long-serving Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatley, who will become Sauber's team principal, and he knew his way in and around a rule book. Can Red Bull continue to be such sharp shooters without two key pillars of its management structure?The balance issues that Verstappen had complained about even during his dominant spell in 2023 rose to the fore and exposed Red Bull once rivals removed its advantage. That left Red Bull in a sticky spot as it struggled to remedy the root cause, while troubles riding curbs—and chronic understeer—regularly frustrated Verstappen and compromised overall lap time, with the RB20 operating in a narrow window. There's also the matter of getting more out of the second car, now occupied by Lawson, but which Perez could not get his head around for so is the best all-round driver on the grid—his wet-weather win in Brazil was among the finest in history—and he can wring the neck of any car. If the championship chase is close, expect Verstappen to once more push the boundaries of the regulations and adopt the 'cede or we collide' stance that returned when Lando Norris was a threat last year. Lawson has limited experience and is a half-rookie so faces a steep learning curve. Going up against current-spec Verstappen is a tall order, though delivering stronger results than predecessor Sergio Perez did for much of last year is a low threshold to pass, and he is a naturally confident is Red Bull Racing's primary asset, and the team dare not consider a future without him. Fortunately for Red Bull, Verstappen has a contract through 2028, but expect other teams—most likely Aston Martin—to test that faith if Red Bull continues to stutter on track. If Red Bull reclaims the team crown, then Verstappen has little reason to leave, but if they don't, then doubt could begin to creep in. There's also the looming 2026 regulations, when Red Bull will for the first time compete with its own power units, in association with Ford—so it cannot take its eye off the Red Bull can cure the balance issues that plagued the RB20, then Verstappen would slot straight in as favorite for a fifth successive world title, a feat only achieved by Michael Schumacher (2000-2004). As for the Constructors' Championship chase, Getting Lawson up to speed in the first order of business. Avoiding the dips that turned into a terminal slump for Perez would also be a boon and greatly boost the team's prospects of reclaiming the Constructors' crown.
