Oscar Piastri can be deemed the new ‘Iceman’ of F1, given the kind of composure he shows on track. Many often praise his calm demeanor, as that helps him triumph in high-pressure battles against the best in the business. Max Verstappen got a firsthand experience of Piastri’s composed behavior when they tussled into turn one in Saudi Arabia last weekend.
Starting from pole, Verstappen expected to cut across Piastri’s line to keep the race lead, but the Aussie had other plans. Making use of his marginally better start, he attacked the Red Bull driver and got on the inside heading into turn one. Now, this resulted in Verstappen taking evasive action and going off track as he wasn’t going to make the corner beside Piastri.
The #81 driver was right on his part to make the apex first and kept his car on track, but he effectively ran Verstappen off the road. While it was the Dutchman who received a five-second penalty for ‘leaving the track and gaining an advantage’, he had rarely experienced such an aggressive race start from an opponent.
Even former endurance and IndyCar racer, Justin Bell, was startled to see Piastri’s aggressive racecraft against a four-time world champion like Verstappen.
“For me, it was a question of the start, ‘How brave will Piastri be?’ I mean, how is he gonna react to a four-time world champion on his right, the answer was, he really doesn’t give a damn”.
Bell also stated that while drivers like Lando Norris and George Russell cave against the ruthless Red Bull driver in such situations on race starts, Piastri showcased that he isn’t going to back out.
A look back at the first corner pic.twitter.com/dTDsgvzFt7
— The Race (@wearetherace) April 20, 2025
“Whether it’s Russell, whether it’s Lando, they all acquiesce to Max’s bullying. But this time, he had someone that is like, ‘I don’t care who you are, mate. I am going through that corner’,” Bell said on the Drive to Wynn podcast.
Bell did admit, however, that it was unfortunate for Verstappen that he earned the penalty as he went off the track. As a result of that five-second penalty, the Dutchman lost the race lead to Piastri after the first round of pit stops concluded.
The Aussie ensured that he held on to that lead till the end to secure his third Grand Prix win of the season and also took the championship lead. With Verstappen keen on winning a fifth consecutive world title, it seems like his main challenge would come from Piastri, who will be chasing a maiden drivers’ world championship.
However, after Jeddah, the four-time world champion knows that Piastri isn’t going to easily yield against him and won’t back down from a wheel-to-wheel fight for the win. So, it will be interesting to see how the dynamic of their battle unfolds.
