The opening lap of the 2025 Saudi Arabian GP was controversial and, in some ways, race-defining. Max Verstappen, starting from pole, got off to a slower start than second-placed Oscar Piastri, which made the Dutchman do something that spoiled his race.
However, had it not been for the McLaren strategists, Verstappen’s brilliance might have actually helped him get off scot-free. Basically, Piastri was ahead of Verstappen at the apex heading into turn one, and to pass the Red Bull driver, he squeezed him to the side. It was a legal move in the eyes of the stewards because, well, he was ahead at the apex.
Verstappen, however, went off the track to maintain his lead and built a big advantage, which earned him a five-second time penalty as he did not give the place back. A shame, according to F1 content creator Matt Gallagher, who pointed out that it spoiled the excitement of the race.
“It kind of ruins the race even before it’s begun,” he said on the Paddock Project podcast. That said, Verstappen could have used the penalty to his advantage or neutralized its effect. Jeddah isn’t an easy track to follow the car ahead in, as there’s a lot of dirty air owing to the fast twisty layout.
And with Piastri following Verstappen, who refused to give the position up in the first place, the race would have turned out rather differently. Piastri was actually losing time to Verstappen ahead.
The Australian was in danger of the gap growing large enough for the five-second penalty to become ineffective, and had he stayed out long enough, that might have been the case. Thankfully for Piastri, McLaren called him into the pits to do the undercut.
“McLaren, they had the great idea to go for the undercut on Max to make sure that Max did not get the track position,” Gallagher added.
Piastri was the first to stop on lap 19, two laps before Verstappen came in to change his tires. After his stop, the Melbourne-born driver emerged ahead of Verstappen, who had served his five-second penalty in the pits, and that was enough.
Piastri stayed in front of the four-time world champion, and from there, it was all about avoiding mistakes and managing his tires to the end, earning him his third victory of the season, one that moved him to P1 in the Constructors’ standings, 10 points clear of second-placed Lando Norris. Verstappen sits third, two points behind Norris.
