Piastri reflects on “proud” WDC lead after Jeddah victory

Exhausted but elated, Oscar Piastri admitted his Jeddah victory was one of the toughest races of his career, but after withstanding relentless pressure from Max Verstappen, the championship leader was simply relieved to get to the finish line—as eager for a couch as he was the podium.

Confirming the obvious that it “wasn’t the easiest of wins” at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the Australian crossed the line with a slim 2.8-second margin over Max Verstappen, while his McLaren teammate crucially missed the podium mark.

With Norris only managing a recovery drive from tenth to fourth place, Piastri’s winning haul of 25 points saw him steal the lead of the WDC with a buffer of 10 points as his successful triple header comes to a close.

Poetically, the #81 is now the first Australian to lead the Drivers’ Championship since his Mark Webber in 2010, with his manager in attendance to watch the McLaren driver bringing the drought to a halt as he remains the only repeat race winner in 2025.

“I mean, the fact that I crossed the line first [gave me the most satisfaction], to be honest,” Piastri said.

“It wasn’t the easiest of wins. 

“I think the start was tough, the first stint was tough behind Max and then once I had some clean air, it was a bit easier to manage, but I still couldn’t afford to take my foot off the gas. 

“It was a difficult race, and Max was quick behind me, so I had to keep pushing. 

“And, yeah, I think I could control it reasonably well, but it was a little bit tighter than I would have liked.”

It was a flying start from the man in second, with Piastri, despite starting on the dirty side of the track, having a quicker reaction time and getting the better jump when the five lights went out in Jeddah.

Charging into the first corner, the McLaren driver worked his front wheel clearly ahead of Max Verstappen as they arrived at the first apex, however, the unrelenting Dutchman pushed his way by on the run-off area to reclaim the lead.

Bullied out of the way, Piastri settled back in behind Verstappen as the stewards began their quick investigation of the clear-cut incident, deeming the Red Bull driver had left the track and gained an advantage which resulted in a five-second penalty being sent the #1’s way.

“I got a great launch and got myself alongside and from that point, I knew that I obviously had to brake quite late, but I knew that I had enough of my car alongside to take the corner,” Piastri explained.

“We obviously both braked extremely late—for me, I braked as late as I could while staying on the track and I think how it unfolded is how it should have been dealt with.”

After a brief Safety Car period, the race restarted with 47 laps to go.

Clinging to the rear of the Red Bull as Verstappen launched from the exit of the final corner, it wasn’t an easy task for the Australian to remain within DRS range, especially with Piastri mistaking a flashing red light in a nearby building for a Red Flag post and momentarily lifting off the throttle.

His confusion wasn’t the end of the world when Piastri went on to set the fastest lap of the race, bobbing in and out of DRS range across his opening medium compound tyre stint.

On Lap 19, the Australian was the first of the top ten to dart off-track in order to conduct his one and only pitstop of the race, rejoining in P6 with the hard compound tyre at the ready.

He was instantly thrust into battle with Lewis Hamilton, completing one of the bravest overtakes of the race when he disposed of the Ferrari around the dirty side of Turn 22, working to build a gap over Verstappen who was now engaged in battle with the seven-time world champion. 

Ahead, Piastri’s teammate circulated in the lead with the dirty air soon impacting the #81’s flow and, as a result, McLaren opted to pit the #4 who was running on an opposing tyre strategy.

The Australian showed a rare glimpse of stress when he arrived on the scene of the back-markers, frantically informing his pit wall that Lance Stroll needed “to get out of the way” as Verstappen honed in behind.

Despite the initial frustration, lapping the cars consumed both his and Verstappen’s final few laps, disallowing the Red Bull driver to close the then-three-second interval for victory.

Crossing the line, Verstappen only managed to carve five-tenths out of Piastri’s lead, ending Red Bull’s winning streak in Saudi Arabia as Piastri also ended the 15-year wait for an Australian driver to be leading the World Drivers’ Championship.

Speaking straight after the physically taxing race, the Australian’s focus shifted from winning to winding down—joking that he was already “looking for a couch” before taking to the podium.

“It was a pretty tough race,” he said. 

“Very, very happy to have obviously won and, yeah, made the difference at the start. 

“I made my case into Turn 1 and that was enough.

“It was really tricky to follow out there. 

“I couldn’t really stay with Max at the end of the first stint, just chewed up my tyres and then the clean air was nice after the pit stop. So, great race, we did the parts we needed to right. 

“Still need a bit more, I think—Max was a little bit too close for our liking, but a great race and a great weekend.”

With a Sprint weekend at the Miami Grand Prix the next task for the 24-year-old, Piastri says the shift between becoming the hunted rather than the hunter doesn’t change his approach in any way.

“I still want to go out and try and win every race I can,” he said. 

“I was saying before, I’m not that bothered by the fact that I’m leading the championship, but I’m proud of the work and the reasons behind why we’re leading the championship. 

“Melbourne wasn’t a great start to the year in terms of results, but from the moment I’ve hit the track this season, I felt like I’ve been in a good place. 

“Leading the championship is a result of all the hard work we’ve done in the off-season, the hard work I’ve done personally, the hard work the team’s done. 

“I’m more proud of all of those things than I am of the fact that I’m leading the championship because, ultimately, I want to be leading it after Round 24, not Round 5.”

Allowing the field one week away from the race track after completing five races in six weeks, the Miami Grand Prix will take place across the first weekend of May (May 3-5 for Australian viewers).

Image: Formula 1

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