Piastri takes World Championship lead with fantastic win in Jeddah!

Piastri takes World Championship lead with fantastic win in Jeddah!

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah, held on April 20, 2025, brought Oscar Piastri a historic victory. The Australian not only won the race, but also celebrated his first lead in the Drivers' World Championship. With a brilliant performance, Piastri came out on top, 2.843 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen (Red Bull), while Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc took third place, 8.104 seconds behind the winner.

Piastri, who clinched his third Grand Prix victory this season, was enthusiastic after the race. “It was an unbeatable feeling to win here and take the lead in the World Championship at the same time,” said the young Australian. His teammates Lando Norris (McLaren) and George Russell (Mercedes) took the top five places, before Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) finished sixth. Lewis Hamilton only reached seventh place, followed by Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Alex Albon (Williams) and Isack Hadjar (RacingBulls), who completed the top ten.

Race history and penalties

The fifth race of the season got off to a turbulent start. On the first lap, an incident occurred between Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine), which led to the safety car being activated. In the following phase of the race, Verstappen caused a stir when he received a five-second penalty for leaving the track to gain an advantage. Despite this penalty, Verstappen was a strong challenger, but Piastri was able to defend his position well during the pit stops.

After the pit stops, Piastri led ahead of Verstappen, Russell and Leclerc. On the 38th lap, Leclerc managed to overtake Russell and secure third place. Russell later also had to let Norris pass, which further stabilized the order in the top half of the table.

Weather conditions and technical details

The conditions during the race were almost ideal. The air temperature was between 25 and 26 degrees Celsius, with humidity of 55 to 59 percent and little wind. The asphalt was also well tempered at 30 to 31 degrees Celsius, which ensured fast lap times. The record for the fastest race lap stands at 1:30.734 minutes, while qualifying also set a record at 1:27.511 minutes.

With this victory, Piastri now leads the world championship by ten points over his teammate Norris and twelve points ahead of Verstappen. He is the first Australian since Mark Webber in 2010 to start the race as World Championship leader. Another exciting aspect of the race was the discussion about Piastri's chances this season, which has now proven to be very promising.

For further information and details about the race, visit the website LAOLA1 and Formula1.de.