Oscar Piastri Grabs the Formula 1 Season by the Collar and Says “Mine.”

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – APRIL 20: Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on April 20, 2025 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

Now, we’ve seen some assured race wins before. We’ve seen Lewis Hamilton surgically dismantle entire fields, Verstappen bully his way around circuits like a 200mph bulldozer, and Fernando Alonso shout at clouds in frustration. But what we saw in Saudi Arabia Sunday was Oscar Piastri casually strolling into the McLaren garage, tossing his helmet aside, and taking the lead in the World Championship like it was just another Tuesday.

Let’s set the scene. Jeddah. A street circuit designed by what I can only assume were caffeinated knife-fighters. Max Verstappen, F1’s resident Sith Lord, is on pole. Right beside him is young Oscar, the Aussie with a face like he’s already planning where to spend his trophy shelf bonus. The lights go out—and BAM!—they’re off.

Max, never one to let things like “rules” or “track limits” get in his way, decides to treat Turn 1 like a game of Grand Theft Auto. Piastri is alongside, correctly alongside, but Max cuts the corner like he’s late for dinner. The Red Bull emerges in the lead, but the stewards—miraculously awake this weekend—hand him a five-second slap on the wrist. Justice, sort of.

“I wasn’t coming out of Turn 1 in second,” said Piastri afterward, channeling every Australian pub bouncer ever. No sir, he wasn’t. He’d just stolen Max’s lunch money and walked away cool as you like.

From there, it was business as usual. Max tried to rebuild his empire, but once the penalty was served, Oscar was long gone. Verstappen, for once, didn’t rage, scream, or drive into someone on purpose. “It is what it is,” he said afterwards, in the tone of a man who knows the revenge tour starts in Miami.

And it wasn’t just a two-man show. Lando Norris, McLaren’s other golden boy, was making up for a Qualifying crash that left him starting from tenth. After dodging a demolition derby involving Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda—who apparently decided the race was a contact sport—Norris started slicing through the field like a hot knife through tepid soup.

He even got past Hamilton, who is now apparently driving for Ferrari, a sentence that still feels like fanfiction. After some spirited dueling, DRS games, and tactical patience (yes, really), Norris found himself sniffing the podium before Charles Leclerc—who suddenly remembered he’s quite good at this—put the hammer down and took third.

Behind them, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli finished fifth and sixth for Mercedes, which, to be fair, is about all the car had in it unless someone put rockets on it. Hamilton came home in seventh, Carlos Sainz dragged a very confused Williams into eighth (yes, that’s real), and Alex Albon secured ninth. Isack Hadjar rounded out the points in tenth for Racing Bulls, which sounds like an energy drink but is apparently a racing team now.

Fernando Alonso? P11. Still no points. Still grumpy. Still Alonso.

Down in the wilderness, we had Haas, Kick Sauber, and Alpine continuing their competition for “most invisible F1 team of the weekend.” Jack Doohan got tangled up with Liam Lawson, who got a ten-second penalty for pretending the track boundaries were more of a suggestion. Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda didn’t even make it past lap one without smashing into each other and triggering a Safety Car, because of course they did.

But forget the chaos, the midfield shuffle, and the minor fireworks. This was Piastri’s race. Calm, clinical, confident. The kind of drive that says, “I’m not just here to play. I’m here to win the championship.”

And now? He leads it. By ten points. The first Aussie to do so since Mark Webber, who, incidentally, is now his manager. Somewhere, a bottle of Bundaberg is being opened in celebration.

Miami’s next. Verstappen’s sharpening his elbows. But Oscar Piastri just proved that sometimes, nice guys do finish first—especially when they brake a little later, turn a little sharper, and drive like they’ve got a kangaroo in the passenger seat whispering, “send it.”

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – APRIL 20: Race winner Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren celebrates in parc ferme during the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on April 20, 2025 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Lars Baron/LAT Images)

FORMULA 1 SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX 2025 RESULTS

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Greg Engle

Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community.

Greg has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.

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