Considered the fastest street circuit in the F1 calendar, the Jeddah Corniche delivered the most exciting race of the season so far in hot and humid conditions on Sunday.
The ultra-fast track makes the Saudi Arabian GP one of the toughest for the drivers, as evidenced on the opening lap, with debate raging as to how Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen navigated the first corner. Here are the key talking points from what was a fantastic race.
Piastri's hot form
An assured race by McLaren's Piastri secured his second consecutive win, making him the first Australian to lead the championship since Mark Webber in 2010.
His unwavering confidence under pressure and ability to maintain focus demonstrated why Piastri possesses all the qualities to be an F1 champion. Having won three out of the first five races, he now sits 10 points ahead of teammate Lando Norris in the drivers' standings.
Piastri can be proud of how quick he was off the line, battling pole sitter Max Verstappen into the first corner to take the apex. The Dutchman subsequently went off track and gained "a lasting advantage that was not given back" according to a statement given by the FIA, resulting in a five-second penalty.
Piastri capitalised and admitted: "Once I got on the inside, I wasn't coming out of Turn One in second. I tried my best and obviously the stewards had to get involved, but I thought I was far enough and in the end that's what got me the race.”
Verstappen did everything to push his car to the limits to cover for the penalty but a remarkably comfortable drive from Piastri, who handles the fastest car on the grid with such ease, meant the Red Bull driver had to console himself with second place.
Norris, meanwhile, drove a great recovery race to finish fourth. It was a challenging weekend for the Briton who crashed at the start of Q3 in qualifying causing significant damage to his car. When a driver is battling with low confidence, mistakes are to be expected, and Norris admitted he is looking forward to a chance to reset.
“I’m happy with my comeback. It’s the best that I could achieve and now I’m looking forward to a break,” he said.
Verstappen punished but shows pace
The four-time world champion pipped Piastri by 0.01 seconds to snatch pole position in an exciting qualifying session on Saturday. Unfortunately for Red Bull, a slow launch saw Piastri immediately challenge him on the first corner in the race on Sunday.
Verstappen clearly did not agree with the stewards' reading of the situation and the five-second penalty he incurred.
"The problem is that I cannot share my opinion about it because I might get penalised," Verstappen said. "So it's better not to speak about it.
"I think it's better not to talk about it. Anything I say or try to say about it, it might get me in trouble."
Christian Horner, Red Bull’s team principal, suggested that they opted to risk the penalty rather than give up the place to avoid the threat of George Russell in the Mercedes.
"If we had given it up, we would have run in the dirty air and then would have been at risk with George," Horner explained. "So, the best thing to do was, at that point, we got the penalty, get your head down, keep going."
Once again, Verstappen impressed at a high-speed circuit, much like he did when he won at Suzuka. "The positives are that, of course, in the race, we had quite good pace,” said Verstappen, who finished just 2.8 seconds behind the McLaren.
Leclerc claims podium but should we worry about Hamilton?
Charles Leclerc was scathing in his assessment of his Ferrari after qualifying, unimpressed with the car’s grip and lack of performance. Promised upgrades had seemingly failed to deliver in a weekend that was supposed to mark a turnaround for last year's constructors' championship runners-up.
However, much to Leclerc's surprise he ended up third for a first podium of the season.
“I think we maximised absolutely everything, so I’m very proud of what we’ve done. Now we just need to improve the car in order to be fighting a bit further up,” he said.
Meanwhile, teammate Lewis Hamilton admitted to not feeling comfortable in his Ferrari.
“Clearly the car is capable of being P3. Charles did a great job today so I can’t blame the car," said the British driver.
It's difficult to find reasons for optimism right now. After Bahrain, Hamilton insisted he had learnt a lot, giving hope that he would continue to progress. However, the Saudi Arabian GP has raised more questions than answers, with him suffering in qualifying and in the race, finishing 29 seconds behind his teammate.
Best yet from Sainz
Carlos Sainz endured a difficult start to the year as he attempted to get to grips with his Williams car but enjoyed a stellar weekend in Jeddah.
Despite being forced to retire from the Bahrain GP after colliding with Yuki Tsunoda, Sainz had showed improved pace and appeared confident in Saudi. The quickest driver among the midfield teams during qualifying, he secured sixth place on the grid, making it his best starting position of the season so far. That translated to an excellent eighth place on race day, ahead of his teammate Alex Albon.
Ever the company man, Sainz protected Albon from the threat of Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar, bringing him into his DRS window.
“Towards the end of the race the team identified that Hadjar was going to be a threat for Alex, so with 12-13 laps to go I was asked to give him DRS,” explained Sainz.
“It wasn’t easy, as in this track, with three DRS zones, the slightest of mistakes can be very costly. However, we managed it perfectly and secured an important double points finish for the team. I’m very happy after putting together a good weekend and I can’t wait for Miami."
