F1: Oscar Piastri wins Saudi Arabian GP to lead drivers’ standings – as it happened

Here’s our initial race report, with Giles Richards’ verdict to come later on. Next up in two weeks’ time, we head to the 305 for the Miami Grand Prix. Thanks for joining me, it was fun. Bye!

Lando Norris had a chat with Sky. “It was hot out there,” he says with a smile. He’s happy enough with fourth, but admits “I made things difficult” with his qualifying crash. He says suggestions McLaren have a clear speed advantage are “crap”, saying Red Bull are right with them in races and in qualifying. “Oscar’s showing where the car should be – I need to be up there too,” he concludes.

McLaren’s Zak Brown is very happy with his weekend. “To get Lando Norris’ car ready in time was incredible – we were hoping for a podium, only about 1.2s off of it – I think our tyre strategy paid off.” He thinks Verstappen’s penalty was justified – “It was Oscar’s corner and at some point, you’ve gotta concede. Once we got him through the dirty air, I think he [Piastri] had more in the tank.”

“Advance Australia Fair” blares out over the PA as Piastri takes the top step of the podium for the third time this season. He’s the first Australian to top the drivers’ standings since Mark Webber in 2010. Coincidentally, Webber is now Piastri’s manager.

No surprise that McLaren lead the constructors’ championship, given their drivers are first and second in the world title race. McLaren have 151 points, Mercedes 93, Red Bull 71 and Ferrari 57.

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 99pts

2. Lando Norris (McLaren) 89pts

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 87pts

4. George Russell (Mercedes) 75pts

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 50pts

6. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 40pts

7. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 33pts

8. Alex Albon (Williams) 20pts

9. Esteban Ocon (Haas) 14pts

10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 10pts

Charles Leclerc, who held on to third place, explains that Ferrari’s race pace remains stronger than in qualifying. “I never expected to finish in third,” he says. “It was more about protecting against the cars behind. Hopefully upgrades are coming, and until then we need to keep pushing.”

And Max Verstappen, who promises to keep it short and delivers: “A big thank you to the fans, it’s been a good weekend. The rest, it is what it is, I’m looking forward to Miami [on 4 May], so see you there.”

Here’s the new F1 championship leader, Oscar Piastri. “I’m looking for a couch … it was a very, very tough race. I made my case into turn one. I couldn’t really keep up with Max, but the clean air was nice after the pits.

“Max is still a little too close for our liking, but it was a great weekend. One of the toughest races I’ve had in my career, so I’m glad to come out on top of it.”

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

4. Lando Norris (McLaren

5. George Russell (Mercedes)

6. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

7. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

8. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

9. Alex Albon (Williams)

10. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)

11. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

12. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

13. Ollie Bearman (Haas)

14. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

15. Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber)

16. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

17. Jack Doohan (Alpine)

18. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)

    DNF: Tsunoda (Red Bull), Gasly (Alpine)

“It’s been a big three weeks,” says Piastri of his form in this Gulf triple-header. “Thanks to everyone, and we’re going to have some fun this year.” In second, Verstappen is happy enough – even though that five-second penalty ultimately cost him victory. “Let’s stay positive,” he tells his Red Bull team.

The McLaren driver wins his third grand prix of the season, and his second in a row. He’s also the first driver to win this season without being on pole, and goes top of the driver standings. Is he the man to beat?

Behind the Australian, Verstappen comes home in second and Leclerc holds off Norris for third place. Russell and Antonelli get home in fifth and sixth for Mercedes, with Hamilton seventh.McLaren's Oscar Piastri passes fireworks after winning.

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Lap 50 of 50: Piastri has to negotiate a few more back markers, but still has 2.5 seconds on Verstappen as we start the final lap. The Australian has surely done enough – and teammate Norris is haring after Leclerc …

Lap 49 of 50: Russell has slowed down considerably, and tells the Mercedes radio he’s worried about damage to his front tyre. “Will we make it to the end?” he asks, and doesn’t get an immediate answer. Norris is 1.3s behind Leclerc – does he have time to snatch third?

Lap 48 of 50: Verstappen managed to take a second out of Piastri’s advantage while the McLaren picked his way through the back-markers, so is likely to relinquish it again now it’s his turn.

Lap 47 of 50: Piastri is close to lapping the back-markers – and complains to his team that Lance Stroll “needs to get out of the way”. Meanwhile, Norris is closing to within 1.8s of Leclerc …

Lap 46 of 50: Oscar Piastri is still leading Verstappen by a good 3.8s – barring anything dramatic, he’s going to win another grand prix.

Lap 45 of 50: Hamilton has recovered from a shaky middle of the race, and going after his Mercedes replacement, Kimi Antonelli in sixth.

Lap 44 of 50: Norris is being investigated for crossing the white line on exit from the pits – but the stewards have cleared him, leaving him free to push Leclerc for third place!

Lap 43 of 50: A tenacious battle for minor places, with the Williams duo of Sainz and Albon holding off Hadjar, who is currently 10th.

Lap 42 of 50: Piastri is holding Verstappen off, leading by 4.2s with laps running out. Norris gets past the fading Russell in fourth and has set a new fastest lap as he aims to reel Charles Leclerc in.

Lap 41 of 50: We saw that Norris’ pit entry was close to a penalty – now race stewards have “noted” his exit from the pits as well. He could pick up a five-second penalty, and undo a lot of good work.

The current top 10…

1) Piastri 2) Verstappen 3) Leclerc 4) Russell 5) Norris 6) Antonelli 7) Hamilton 8) Sainz 9) Albon 10) Hadjar.

Lap 40 of 50: Piastri complains about a red flashing light on a balcony close to turn 10 – “it looks exactly like a red flag”, he tells the team radio. Maybe finding something to focus on, with 10 laps to the chequered flag.

Lap 39 of 50: Leclerc gets the better of Russell heading into a chicane, and sounds positively languid over the radio, compared to some of his rivals anyway. Further down the field, RacingBulls’ Liam Lawson will get a 10-second penalty for leaving the track.

Lap 38 of 50: Leclerc is absolutely flying on his new tyres – the Ferrari has the fastest lap and is now close to overtaking Russell in third.

Lap 37 of 50: Oscar Piastri leads! It’s taken him 36 laps to get back there after appearing to lead into the first corner – but Oscar Piastri is finally out in front. He has a lead of 4.4s over Verstappen. Behind them, it looks like a battle between Russell, Leclerc and Norris for the final podium place.

Lap 36 of 50: Norris’ pit stop is a little sketchy, but he comes back out on mediums in fifth place. Hadjar also pits, and returns in 10th place – one clear of the only remaining non-pitter, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

Lap 35 of 50: Norris is about to pit – shortly after Piastri complained that “dirty air” from his McLaren rival was slowing him up.

Lap 34 of 50: The current top 10 – Norris and Hadjar are still running on their original hard tyres.

1) Norris 2) Piastri 3) Verstappen 4) Russell 5) Leclerc 6) Antonelli 7) Hadjar 8) Hamilton 9) Sainz 10) Albon.

Lap 33 of 50: Leclerc returned to the track in fifth place but has just set a new fastest lap – and he could have Russell in his sights soon. It’s heating up …

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Lap 32 of 50: One of the drivers struggling is Jack Doohan, who switched tyres under the safety car. It compounds a rough day for Alpine, with Gasly crashing out on the first lap.

Lap 31 of 50: Carlos Sainz is back up to ninth place after easing past Lance Stroll. A few drivers have reported handling issues on the hard tyres – so we can’t take anything for granted yet.

Lap 30 of 50: Leclerc pits – and with great efficiency, it must be said – which means Lando Norris has climbed from 10th to 1st! He’ll have to pit soon, but it’s been a very strong race for McLaren so far.

Lap 28 of 50: Leclerc and Norris doing a great job of maintaining their pace out in front; Norris still has 3.7s on Piastri, who in turn leads Verstappen by 4.6s. One person who is struggling for pace on hard tyres is Hadjar, who has Antonelli breathing down his neck.

Lap 27 of 50: Could Norris’ Q3 crash yesterday end up benefiting him? He has a set of unused soft compound tyres that could be deployed near the end of the race. The pit window for his hard tyres is coming up – Leclerc, who is on mediums, still hasn’t pitted.

Lap 26 of 50: Leclerc leads with Lando Norris – but both men are yet to pit. Behind them, Piastri is third, ahead of Verstappen and Russell – with Isack Hadjar sixth and yet to make a stop.

Lap 25 of 50: We’re halfway through – and an awkward meeting as Bortoletto clips his manager, Fernando Alonso, near the back of the field.

Lap 24 of 50: Hamilton is relishing the chance to hold up his former title rival, but Verstappen does eventually get beyond him, at which point the Ferrari heads to the pits.

Lap 23 of 50: Verstappen returns behind Piastri! The time gap proves too big for the Red Bull, who returns to the track in fifth, just behind Hamilton. Leclerc and Norris – both due to pit – are the current top two, while Piastri has just set a new fastest lap.

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Lap 22 of 50: Verstappen is pitting, just as Piastri zips smartly around Hamilton to move up to fourth. Big moment here as Verstappen serves his five-second penalty … Leclerc is the new on-track leader, but it’s all about the battle behind him.

Lap 21 of 50: “Push, Max, push!” is the roar from Red Bull’s team radio as the champion builds up a 20-second-plus gap to Piastri. Russell, second on the track, is in and out of the pit lane efficiently.

Lap 20 of 50: Piastri pits first as the race leaders switch to hard tyres, with Verstappen staying out on track, having built a 2.5s lead over the McLaren. It’s a slowish stop for the Australian, who comes back out in sixth, just behind Hamilton.