In Jeddah, Piastri beat Verstappen at his own game

The Australian had to wait for Verstappen to pit and take his subsequent five-second penalty for the corner cut before he could claim the pure clear air of leading the race. But Piastri’s third win from five races this term, which has shot him to the top of the Championship standings, was never in serious doubt. Although, how Verstappen kept up the pressure and finished just 2.8 seconds behind the McLaren bodes well that, while the Papaya cars have an edge right now, their advantage is not by much.

Precision from Piastri

The short run from the grid to the fiddly chicane left only a small window of opportunity. But on this evidence, perhaps pole position should be switched to the inside line for future Grands Prix on the Jeddah Corniche circuit. Piastri’s lightning getaway allowed him to quickly draw alongside Verstappen as they approached the left-right, and whatever Red Bull chief Christian Horner claimed afterwards, there was never any question who had the corner.

In fact, Piastri acted precisely as Verstappen would have done were the roles reversed, capitalising on his start and advantageous position to take the natural racing line through the turns. It was all he had to do. He knew the onus was on Verstappen to make his choice – and it would likely only go one way.

How the four-time Champion belligerently decided to stick it out, rejoining the track in the lead and refusing to hand it over, cast the die for how Verstappen’s evening would turn out. Had he backed off and ceded the lead, the likelihood is he still would have lost the race to Piastri given McLaren’s edge. Then again, look how close he finished to his rival. He might have had at least a shot, perhaps pressing McLaren or Piastri into a mistake. “Well, that is ******* lovely,” Verstappen snapped when news of his five seconds came through. But the stewards’ call was inevitable, as he should have known.

Horner argued that in the first corner on the first lap there’s supposed to be some leash given to “let them race.” In truth, the stewards were lenient with this point in mind. Verstappen should have faced a ten-second penalty for his offence, but it was reduced to five because it occurred straight after the start. From that perspective, he got away lightly with a slight penalty that at least all allowed him to finish a still strong second.

Verstappen refuses to bite

How the reigning champion then remained tight-lipped, beyond his moment of anger on the radio, was perhaps more significant than the incident itself. The Dutchman cut short his immediate post-race interview, then in the official press conference explained he had too much to lose by speaking his mind. It’s another worrying indictment of how motorsport is currently governed, by a brittle FIA that won’t countenance any hint of insubordination. Even Formula 1’s most outspoken character now feels he must pull his punches when it comes to saying what he thinks.

“You can't share your opinion because it’s not appreciated, apparently, or people can't handle the full truth,” Verstappen stated. “Honestly, it's better if I don’t say too much. It’s honestly just how everything is becoming. Everyone is super-sensitive about everything. And what we have [in the rules] currently, we cannot be critical anyway. So less talking – even better for me.”

Piastri cool under pressure – again

What Verstappen did go on to express was his admiration for Piastri. You sense Max knows he has met his match in the hard-headed stakes when it comes to the 24-year-old. What really stands out is how cool Piastri remains, how he removes extreme emotion from his performances. There’s little sign of exasperation when things go wrong and he doesn’t get over-excited when he wins either.

He also has Verstappen levels of aggression in his racecraft. How he sliced past Lewis Hamilton offline through Turns 21 and 22 after his pitstop was a breathtaking example of his ruthless commitment and self-belief when it comes to the wheel-to-wheel stuff.

Still, it would be wrong to say he’s immune from pressure. There was a hint of aggravation in his radio complaint about lapping Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, with Verstappen hovering in the closing stages. But overall, Piastri was once again largely unflappable.

Verstappen mentioned the influence of Piastri’s manager, Mark Webber, the last Australian to lead the World Championship back in 2010. His personal spirit-level of equilibrium will likely be tested in the months to come, as Piastri reaches the unchartered waters of fighting for a World Title. But the signs right now suggest he has everything in his armoury to go beyond what Webber was capable of and complete the job.

Norris and his demons

In contrast, heart-on-sleeve Lando Norris looks set to put his fans through the emotional wringer in the months to come. Again, the 25-year-old showed his natural speed in Jeddah, but again there were too many mistakes. The crash in qualifying that left him down in tenth on the grid instead of on the front row was the sort of error Champions shouldn’t make.

After berating himself and apologising to his team on Saturday, Norris at least arrived at the circuit for raceday in a positive state of mind. On the offset strategy of starting on the hard Pirelli tyre, he immediately picked up a couple of places when Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly interlocked wheels to bring out an early safety car, then picked off Carlos Sainz’s Williams for seventh. He shouldn’t have needed three attempts to pass Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari, but the seven-time champion played the Saudi DRS game into the final corner on two consecutive laps, making Lando look a little naïve.

Once he’d finally dismissed Hamilton into Turn 1, he smoothly moved past Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes and cycled through to the lead, but then almost blew his hard work when he finally pitted on lap 34. Just the right side of too hot on the way into the pitlane, he flirted with crossing the white line on the exit but got away with it. Just. Again, all too unnecessary.

As it was, Norris easily passed George Russell and chased hard after Charles Leclerc in the closing stages. But the lead Ferrari driver had the bit between his teeth and wasn’t about to relinquish a hard-earned podium, earned via running long on the medium tyre from the start. Leclerc’s race pace was at least a good sign that Ferrari’s underwhelming start to 2025 can still be turned around, if he and Hamilton are given the means to unlock more speed on Saturday afternoons.

Fourth place for Norris lost him his points lead in the Championship, with Piastri now ten to the good. It’s still early days, of course. But, after playing second fiddle in the back-to-back Middle East races, Norris is now attempting to stay calm, to “chill out a bit” and keep a cool head as F1 heads to Miami, the scene of Lando’s 2024 breakthrough. He has the car and the speed. Now he needs to hold his nerve.

Images courtesy of Getty Images.