The only real question of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was this: Can Max Verstappen's blistering pace on a single lap be extended to the entire race, or will the balance tip towards Oscar Piastri, who is more stable over longer stages.
Max Verstappen had a great start, but Oscar Piastri did the same, and given that these are two equally tenacious drivers, it was expected that they would not get through the first corner without problems. That's what happened, with Piastri in position, Verstappen overtook him irregularly, cutting through the chicane. By the time these frames were broadcast, the safety car had already arrived, Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda had hit the wall. Neither the Frenchman nor the Japanese could continue the race, while others took advantage of the opportunity and switched to hard compounds.
After the restart, which was easily brought about by Red Bull, Verstappen and his team found themselves in a serious dilemma: to return Piastri's position or risk a penalty? In the end, for tactical reasons, they chose the latter option, but they did not gain much. During the first "real" pit stops, RB received a five-second penalty, during which Piastri took the lead. What happened in the meantime in the peloton? Apart from Charles Leclerc's long stage, there was nothing really significant, but it was a pleasure to watch. The Scuderia Ferrari driver had a brilliant management and distribution of the tires, and in the last thirds of the race he started to threaten the podium places, and overtook George Russell with a beautiful maneuver. In addition to him, Isaac Hadjar and the two Williams also had an above-average performance, all three of them being in the massive scoring zone. There were few events left in the final laps, one of which was the approach of Lando Norris, who, after gaining six positions, reached fourth place.
But he couldn't interfere in the game of the greats, as the race was won by Oscar Piastri, who thus already leads the championship with the other McLaren. Behind him, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc celebrated, having reasons, all of them brought something extra to the table on this day.
Photo: Planet F1/ AP Photo
