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Max Verstappen scored his second race victory of this highly competitive Formula 1 season at Imola, finishing ahead of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

This was Red Bull Racing’s 400th race and the key to Super Max’s win was on the opening lap as Verstappen was late on the brakes to pass both George Russell and Oscar Piastri heading into Turn 1 on the first lap.

From second on the grid Verstappen attacked Piastri into the first braking zone of Tamburello, going late on the brakes around the outside to sweep past the championship leader with a brilliant move.

In Verstappen’s wake Piastri decided to stop early for what was expected to be a one-stop race, exchanging his medium tyres for hards on lap 14.

A similarly early pitstop for third-starting George Russell also released Lando Norris into clear air, with the driver 10 seconds behind Verstappen at that stage.

Red Bull’s tyre wear appeared more promising than expected, with Verstappen shipping two to three tenths per lap to the chasing McLaren, which was not enough of a pace difference to worry the leading defending champion.

But the race then received a first plot twist on lap 29 with a virtual safety car for the stricken Haas of Esteban Ocon, who parked up between the Variante Alta and Rivazza.

The VSC situation massively benefitted those who hadn’t pitted yet, including Verstappen. Norris had crucially come in the previous lap, losing out in the process.

As the race went green again on lap 31, Verstappen’s lead had grown to 20 seconds, with Alexander Albon also benefitting to move up to third ahead of Piastri.

Norris was unable to gain back more than two seconds on Verstappen, while Piastri swiftly moved up to third but was already falling over 12 seconds behind his teammate.

The stalemate didn’t last, however, with another pivotal interruption on lap 47 when Andrea Kimi Antonelli retired from eighth position, this time bringing out a full safety car.

Verstappen pitted for a second set of hard tyres, as did Norris. Piastri stayed out, splitting the pair for the final ten lap shootout as the field was released on Lap 54.

On fresher tyres Norris made quick work of his McLaren teammate, but he was unable to stop Verstappen from marching to a second win of the 2025 season, while Piastri settled for third.

On split strategies the Ferraris produced a combative display following a disastrous qualifying session that saw Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton P11 and P12 on the grid.

Both made a good start, but Leclerc looked set to lose out under the first VSC situation, only to then be brought back into the race by staying out under the late safety car.

Leclerc ultimately failed to keep fourth on his older tyres, first shoving Albon off the road into Tamburello, which saw Albon lose out to the pursuing Hamilton as well.

Hamilton did pass Leclerc, who was then told to let Albon through in order to avoid any potential five-second penalty for the earlier incident. The Ferrari driver finished sixth behind the Williams driver.

Russell was another driver to lose out on strategy, although the high tyre wear didn’t help matters as the Mercedes driver started on the mediums he used in qualifying.

Sainz was eighth to complete a double points finish for Williams, followed by Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar. After a violent crash in qualifying, Yuki Tsunoda produced a spirited drive and made a one-stopper work to climb to P10.

Aston Martin was the afternoon’s biggest loser, with both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll dropping out of the points after a tyre gamble which allowed the pair to shine in qualifying, but saw them lacking a crucial set of hard tyres for the safety-car-interrupted event.

So a good, entertaining race at Imola and Piastri remains in the lead of the championship, heading Norris by 13 points and Verstappen by 22.

The Formula 1 paddock now heads down to Monaco for the second part of a European triple-header. Will be interesting if McLaren can strike back at the iconic street circuit.

Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:31:33.199
2 Lando Norris McLaren +6.109s
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren +12.956s
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +14.356s
5 Alexander Albon Williams +17.945s
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +20.774s
7 George Russell Mercedes +22.034s
8 Carlos Sainz Williams +22.898s
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +23.586s
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +26.446s
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +27.250s
12 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +30.296s
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine +31.424s
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +32.511s
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +32.993s
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine +33.411s
17 Oliver Bearman Haas +33.808s
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +38.572s
Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes DNF
Esteban Ocon Haas DNF

Oscar Piastri has grabbed his third career pole position for McLaren at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix by taking the P1 away from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Mercedes driver George Russell will start in P3 ahead of Lando Norris.

After the first series of Q3 runs Verstappen led the way with a lap time of one minute, 14.772 seconds, half a tenth up on Piastri and two tenths ahead of Norris.

On his final attempt, championship leader Piastri lost out to Verstappen in sector one, but a better second and third sectors allowed the McLaren driver to set a time of one minute, 14.670 secoinds to provisionally snatch pole away from the world champion, despite a messy final corner.

Verstappen threatened to challenge with a purple first sector but lost too much time in the final two segments and it became a full one-tenth deficit. The Red Bull driver improved second effort was 0.034 seconds shy of pole, with Piastri starting from the front for the third time in 2025.

Meanwhile, Mercedes driver George Russell beat the second McLaren of Lando Norris to third, with Fernando Alonso a sensational fifth for Aston Martin.

Both Aston Martin drivers advanced to Q3 by using Pirelli’s mediums – the C5 compound – which proved sturdier than the newly introduced C6 tyre, which was a handful to keep alive over an entire qualifying lap.

It allowed Alonso to claim his best starting position of what has been a difficult season so far, ahead of Williams duo Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.

Lance Stroll was eighth, with Racing Bulls man Isack Hadjar and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completing the top ten.

Ferrari’s desire to show well at its first of two 2025 races on home ground, and potentially Imola’s Formula 1 farewell weekend, but unfortunately both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were eliminated out in Q2.

Leclerc and Hamilton qualified P11 and P12 respectively after failing to improve on their final flyer with the soft tyres – Leclerc missing the cut by less than a tenth, with Hamilton a further tenth and a half.

On the subject of home race disappointment, Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli also suffered a difficult afternoon, only in P13, followed by Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Colapinto.

Q1 was red-flagged twice for crashes by Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine debutant Franco Colapinto.

With 13 minutes on the clock Tsunoda suffered a violent accident into Turn 5’s fast Villeneuve chicane at the end of the first sector. Tsunoda lost control over his car and spun backwards into the gravel trap, which sent his Red Bull into a barrel roll. Fortunately the Japanese driver was able to jump out unhurt.

The final Q1 runs saw another crash for Franco Colapinto, who replaces Jack Doohan at Alpine from this weekend onwards.

Colapinto dipped onto the grass at the exit of the first corner complex of Tamburello, spinning off and hitting the tyre wall head on at reduced speed. The Alpine driver escaped unhurt, with his accident ending Q1 early.

Colapinto had advanced to Q2 and eventually qualified P15 but will likely get a grid penalty for being released into the pitlane early under the first red flag, with a similar incident in Bahrain costing Mercedes duo Russell and Antonelli a one-place grid drop.

As a result of Colapinto’s accident, Liam Lawson was unable to complete a final flyer, dumping him out in P16. The Racing Bulls man was joined by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Haas duo of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman.

Bearman felt he had completed his final lap before the red flag came out, but following checks by race control his lap time – which would have easily been enough for Q2 – was not reinstated.

So after two red flags, the qualifying session turned out to be exciting and yet the end result was that Oscar Piastri taking pole position for McLaren. With Max Verstappen on the front row, Sunday’s race will be interesting.

Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:14.670
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:14.704
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:14.807
4 Lando Norris McLaren 1:14.962
5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:15.431
6 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:15.432
7 Alexander Albon Williams 1:15.473
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:15.581
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:15.746
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:15.787
11 Chalres Leclerc Ferrari 1:15.604
12 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:15.765
13 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:15.772
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:16.260
15 Franco Colapine Alpine 1:16.256
16 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:16.379
17 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:16.518
18 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:16.613
19 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:16.918
20 Yuki Tsuonoda Red Bull No time

Oscar Piastri achieved his three consecutive victory of the season after leading home his McLaren teammate Lando Norris at the Miami Grand Prix.

The championship leader took the lead with a pass on Max Verstappen on lap 14 of 57 and underline his title credentials by winning, with Norris also passing the struggling Red Bull to salvage second after losing out at the start of the race.

Starting alongside Verstappen in second, Norris took the inside into Turn 1, but Verstappen held firm and nudged Norris into the inside Turn 3 runoff, which dropped the McLaren driver back to sixth. “He forced me off, what am I going to do, drive into the wall? I was completely alongside,” Norris complained, but the race stewards decided no action was necessary.

Contact between Jack Doohan and Liam Lawson at Turn 1 brought out the virtual safety car to remove debris, and after the lap 4 restart McLaren’s true pace advantage became true, with fourth-starting Piastri easily clearing Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Norris moving past Russell into fifth.

Piastri started attacking Verstappen for the lead soon enough and got the job done into Turn 1 on lap 14, having been patient around the outside and thereby forcing Verstappen into a mistake locking the front tyres.

Their battle allowed Norris to close and he also got past the defending champion, although he made harder work of it than his teammate. On lap 18 Norris initially passed Verstappen in Turn 7 but forced both cars off, handing the position back.

One lap later Norris sealed the move much earlier on the straight, and swiftly dropped Verstappen as the Red Bull struggled with tyre wear, embarking on a chase on Piastri, who had gained nine seconds thanks to Lando’s battle with Verstappen.

Antonelli and Russell ran third, while being put under pressure by Alex Albon.

The next virtual safety car came out for Oliver Bearman’s stricken Haas after the Ferrari power unit seized, which handed an advantage to those who hadn’t yet made their one and only pitstop.

A quicker pitstop cycled hard-tyre starter Russell out ahead of Verstappen and Antonelli in third, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton also benefitted to make a cheap switch from hards to mediums.

From the lap 30 restart onwards, Piastri comfortably protected his lead against Norris, who shaved off a few seconds but never looked like closing the gap to his teammate. Piastri crossed the finishing line with a 4.630 seconds lead on Norris to take his third consecutive win, with Russell snatching a podium in third.

Verstappen had to settle for fourth in the wake of the Mercedes driver, with Albon securing an excellent fifth for Williams ahead of Antonelli after having looked impressively quick all race.

Hamilton intended to use his quicker medium tyres to chase Antonelli, but was stuck behind hard-tyred team-mate Charles Leclerc for several laps, much to the seven-time world champion’s dismay, before finally being released. But Hamilton ran out of time to catch his Mercedes replacement, which led to Ferrari swapping the positions once more to let Leclerc retake seventh ahead of his annoyed teammate.

Carlos Sainz grabbed ninth for Williams after attempting a late but unsuccessful lunge on Hamilton into the final corner, followed by Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda. Tsunoda received a five-second penalty, added to his race time, for speeding in the pits. However, as he crossed the line 5.1 seconds ahead of Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar, he just about managed to save his point.

Esteban Ocon was a distant P12 after a disappointing race for Haas, with Alpine, Sauber and a woeful Aston Martin outfit also leaving without points.

Gabriel Bortoleto followed Bearman into retirement after the Sauber driver reported crippling power unit issues, while Doohan’s and Lawson’s Turn 1 clash also led to terminal damage for both, bringing the number of retirements to four.

In the drivers’ championship, Piastri’s fourth season win extends his lead on Norris to 16 points. Verstappen now trails Piastri by 32 points in third, with Russell another six points in arrears.

The Formula 1 paddock resumes in two weeks’ time in Imola for what looks set to be the final edition of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix for the foreseeable future.

So a dominant race by McLaren by finishing first and second. Congratulations to Oscar Piastri in achieving his third consecutive win. He looks the favourite for the championship by this consistent race results.

Miami Grand Prix, race results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:28:51.587
2 Lando Norris McLaren +4.630s
3 George Russell Mercedes +37.644s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull +39.956s
5 Alexander Albon Williams +48.067s
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +55.502s
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +57.036s
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +60.186s
9 Carlos Sainz Williams +60.577s
10 Yuki Tsuonda Red Bull +74.434s
11 Isack Tsunoda +74.602s
12 Esteban Ocon Haas +82.006s
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine +90.445s
14 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +1 lap
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +1 lap
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 lap
Liam Lawson Red Bull DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber DNF
Oliver Bearman Haas DNF
Jack Doohan Alpine DNF

Defending world champion Max Verstappen will start the Miami Grand Prix on pole position after defeating Lando Norris by a small margin of 0.065 seconds.

The Red Bull driver achieved his 43rd career pole in Formula 1. Andrea Kimi Antonelli continues to impress for Mercedes by being third fastest and edging ahead of Oscar Piastri.

In Q3 Verstappen set provisional pole with a lap of one minute, 26.492 seconds, just thousandths ahead of Norris and Piastri, which had more to do with neither McLaren driver finding gains rather than any Super Max heroics.

But Verstappen produced his magic to find the fastest time across the session, a lap time of one minute, 26.204 seconds, which was enough to fend off a late improvement by Norris, who appeared to lose his pole opportunity by bouncing over the inside kerb in the final corner.

What is more remarkable, Max made a mistake into Turn 1 on his final Q3 run and yet was able to set quality sector times despite the error. To take pole position is a fantastic achievement.

Russell was fifth for Mercedes ahead of excellent Williams duo Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc a low-key eighth position. Haas driver Esteban Ocon excelled to grab ninth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the Red Bull.

Piastri led the running in Q2 by two tenths over teammate Norris. Before the final attempt Russell found himself in the drop zone – despite on used tyres – declaring he had no confidence in his Mercedes, but his second lap was more than good enough to go through.

The same cannot be said of Lewis Hamilton, whose second lap was worse than his first, dropping the Ferrari driver out in P12 just 0.039 seconds off P10. Hadjar missed the cut by a mere 0.020 seconds in P11, while Gabriel Bortoleto took an encouraging P13 for Sauber.

Jack Doohan was the best of the Alpines in P14, followed by a disappointing P15 for Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson who suffered from a battery problem.

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg just missed the cut in P16, ahead of Fernando Alonso, whose Aston Martin was repaired in time after his sprint race crash. Gasly was P18, ruing traffic on his final lap, with Lance Stroll and Oliver Bearman also eliminated.

So a better outcome for the four-time world champion after a time penalty and no points in the sprint race earlier. Max Verstappen achieved an important pole position in qualifying. Going to be interesting if the Red Bull has the race pace next.

Miami Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:26.204
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:26.269
3 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:26.271
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:26.375
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:26.385
6 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:26.569
7 Alexander Albon Williams 1:26.682
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:26.754
9 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:26.824
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:26.943
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:26.987
12 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:27.006
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:27.151
14 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:27.422
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:27.363
16 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:27.473
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:27.604
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:27.710
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:27.830
20 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:27.999

McLaren driver Lando Norris was victorious in a chaotic wet-to-dry Miami Grand Prix sprint race, finishing ahead of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

The Saturday afternoon sprint was reduced from 19 to 18 laps due to the wet weather conditions, two of which were completed behind the safety car after a delayed starting procedure due to the lack of visibility.

After a 28-minute delay the race took place under a standing start, with maiden sprint polesitter Andrea Kimi Antonelli attempting to defend his lead from McLaren’s Piastri, with Lando Norris and Max Verstappen on the second row.

But as Piastri dived down the inside into Turn 1, Antonelli went off the track, dropping to fourth behind Norris and Verstappen, and just ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell.

From the front championship leader Piastri managed to control the race in relative comfort, taking care of his intermediate tyres while a dry racing line slowly but surely emerged. Norris started putting pressure on Piastri as they dispatched third-placed Verstappen in the Red Bull.

Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, who had started from the back, was the first to gamble for slicks on lap 11, providing valuable information to the rest of the field as they monitored Yuki’s lap times on medium Pirellis.

Having been lacking pace on inters, Lewis Hamilton was one of several cars to follow Tsunoda into the pits the following lap despite only six laps left to benefit from them, but their rapid race pace soon showed it was a gamble worth taking, with Hamilton moving up the order.

Verstappen and Antonelli both pitted for slicks on lap 13, but the pair made contact as the world champion was released unsafely into the path of Antonelli. Verstappen caught damage on his front wing, while Antonelli was forced to drive through without stopping in his box.

Hamilton’s searing soft-tyre pace also forced Piastri and then Norris to react by pitting for mediums, while a Fernando Alonso crash after contact with Liam Lawson caused a safety car.

Crucially, Norris just emerged from the pits ahead of Piastri, handing the McLaren driver the lead behind the safety car ahead of Piastri and Hamilton, who had passed Verstappen’s damaged Red Bull.

Verstappen was then handed a ten-second penalty for an unsafe release, which demoted him to down to P16.

Albon moved up to finish fourth for Williams ahead of Russell, with Lance Stroll taking a strong sixth for Aston Martin. Lawson was seventh for Racing Bulls after rocketing into the top ten at the start from his P15 grid spot, while Oliver Bearman took the final point in eighth for Haas.

After his contact with Verstappen, Antonelli had to come into the pits once again to take medium tyres, bumping him out of the points in P10.

Charles Leclerc was unable to make the start after crashing out on the way to the grid, aquaplaning off the road in his Ferrari while on intermediate tyres.

By defeating Piastri in the sprint, Norris reduces his championship deficit from ten to nine points.

So an eventful sprint race in Miami. Lando Norris gaining track position by pitting just as the safety car made an appearance. The same situation that occurred at last year’s race in which Lando scored his first win.

Miami Grand Prix, sprint race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 36:37.647
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.672s
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +1.073s
4 Alex Albon Williams +2.522s
5 George Russell Mercedes +3.127s
6 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +3.412s
7 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +4.024s
8 Oliver Bearman Haas +4.218s
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +5.153s
10 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +5.635s
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine +5.973s
12 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +6.153s
13 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +7.502
14 Esteban Ocon Haas +8.998s
15 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +9.675s
16 Jack Doohan Alpine +9.909s
17 Max Verstappen Red Bull +12.059s*
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin DNF
Carlos Sainz Williams DNF
Charles Leclerc Ferrari DNS
*Ten-second time penalty for unsafe release in the pits

Andrea Kimi Antonelli achieves his first career pole position in Formula 1 by taking the top spot for the sprint race at Miami. The Mercedes driver took a surprising P1 after beating the favourites McLaren. The Papaya pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris had to settle for second and third.

Antonelli had looked quick throughout Friday afternoon’s sprint qualifying session and his late run to pole was enough to withstand a final run attempt by McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who qualified 0.045 seconds and 0.100 seconds behind respectively.

A thrilling conclusion to SQ3 saw the name at the top of the timesheets change more than once, with Max Verstappen initially beating George Russell’s benchmark – only for Antonelli to come through with an effort a time of one minute, 26.482 seconds.

Oscar Piastri fell short by just 0.045 seconds, while McLaren teammate Lando Norris had to settle for third ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull in fourth. Russell, meanwhile, will start from fifth, the Mercedes driver having set his SQ3 lap early in the segment.

The Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will start from P6 and P7 respectively, followed by the Williams of Alex Albon in P8, Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bulls in P9 and Fernando Alonso for Aston Martin in P10.

Nico Hulkenberg will start P11 for Sauber ahead of Esteban Ocon’s Haas and Pierre Gasly. His Alpine teammate Jack Doohan was eliminated in SQ2 following a pitlane incident which proved to be awkward moment for the Enstone-based outfit.

The Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson is P14 while Carlos Sainz suffered a massive brake lockup and was unable to set a lap time in the Williams so will by in P15. Lance Stroll is P16 ahead of the unlucky Jack Doohan and Yuki Tsunoda. The latter making mistakes in the sprint qualifying for Red Bull.

Gabriel Bortoleto and Oliver Bearman are on the final row of the sprint race for Sauber and Haas respectively.

So congratulations to Kimi Antonelli in becoming the youngest polesitter ever – in any race format – in Formula 1. Going to be interesting if the Mercedes can achieve his first victory in the sprint race next.

Miami Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:26.482
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:26.527
3 Lando Norris McLaren 1:26.582
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:26.737
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:26.791
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:26.808
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:27.030
8 Alexander Albon Williams 1:27.193
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:27.543
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:27.790
11 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:27.850
12 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:28.070
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:28.167
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:28.375
15 Carlos Sainz Williams No time
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:29.028
17 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:29.171
18 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:29.246
19 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:29.312
20 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:29.825

Oscar Piastri won his third Formula 1 race this season and becomes the new championship leader for McLaren as Max Verstappen had to settle for second place following a five-second time penalty for gaining track advantage.

Having qualified first, reigning world champion Verstappen was not as quick off the line as Piastri from second and drove his Red Bull wide into turn two, earning him a time penalty that seemingly cost him an opportunity for victory.

Charles Leclerc took third for Ferrari, holding off a late challenge from the recovering Lando Norris, who had started down in P10 after crashing out in qualifying. This was Leclerc’s first podium of the season for the Scuderia.

It was a great start from Piastri and he looked to pass Verstappen, who cut turn two to retain the lead just moments before the sister Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda was caught up in a crash with Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.

There had been a safety car in all four previous Formula 1 races in Jeddah and this time it was out by the end of the first lap.

Gasly retired immediately having lost the majority of the rear wing and Tsunoda’s race was also over despite making it back to the pits.

With the cars all falling into a designated pace, the radio back and forth began as Piastri called for Verstappen to hand back the lead, while Max insisted he had been run wide on purpose.

The race stewards sided with Piastri and Verstappen was duly handed a five-second time penalty just as the race got back under way.

Norris, having opted to start on the hard tyre, gaining from the Tsunoda/Gasly incident and made up two places to eighth, before passing Carlos Sainz at the start of lap seven to continue his recovery.

With Piastri keeping Verstappen within striking distance, Norris started to close on the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton, passing but dropping back behind as the seven-time world champion got the benefit of DRS.

There was a repeat on the next lap, Norris again opting to pass at a time which gave Hamilton the DRS advantage into the final corner.

The next time around, Norris waited until the last corner himself before deploying DRS and passing Hamilton without fear of immediately losing the place back for a third time.

Norris was the man making moves through the pack and Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes was next up for the McLaren, who has up to fifth before the end of lap 19.

Meanwhile, Piastri was dropping back from Verstappen and pitted on lap 20, a slight delay costing the McLaren driver a second in his box as he returned on the hard compound.

Verstappen was told to push, aiming to avoid any undercut and knowing he still his penalty hanging over him as George Russell also opted to come in.

Piastri, though, would be three seconds further up the road after Vestappen’s own stop two laps later as he took net lead of the race with Leclerc and Norris having not come in for fresh tyre.

Norris was extending his stint with these hard tyres, no doubt hoping for a timely safety car to cut down the time lost in the pitlane – although he eventually discarded his original set of tyres with 15 laps to go.

The stop saw him drop back down to fifth but with much newer tyres than the quartet now ahead of him.

Piastri was now leading outright, Verstappen’s five-second penalty keeping him behind the McLaren, with Russell third and Leclerc closing him down in fourth.

The Ferrari driver squeezed through as Norris started setting the pace with the race entering the closing stages.

With Russell struggling, Norris also made his way past the Mercedes but was also placed under investigation by the stewards for crossing the white line on pit exit.

No further action was taken as Norris set about catching Leclerc to seal the last position on the podium, but he ultimately ran out of laps before he could make a proper fist of it, closing to just over a second before the flag.

Russell finished fifth despite being concerned about his tyre wear in the closing stages, with Antonelli sixth and Hamilton finishing seventh, where he had started.

Sainz was eighth and played the ultimate team game, allowing the second Williams of Alex Albon to piggyback his DRS and keep Isack Hadjar at bay, the Racing Bulls man having to settle for P10.

So an eventful race at Jeddah with the drama on the opening lap deciding this outcome of this Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Verstappen got a time penalty for going off track and felt he was pushed aside by Piastri. And yet Oscar won the opening corner and was on the racing line. By winning this race, Piastri is the new championship leader.

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, race results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:21:06.758
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull +2.843s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +8.104s
4 Lando Norris McLaren +9.196s
5 George Russell Mercedes +27.236s
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +34.688s
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +39.073s
8 Carlos Sainz Williams +64.630s
9 Alexander Albon Williams +66.515s
10 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +67.091s
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +75.917s
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +78.451s
13 Oliver Bearman Haas +79.194s
14 Esteban Ocon Haas +99.723s
15 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +1 lap
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 lap
17 Jack Doohan Alpine +1 lap
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +1 lap
Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull DNF
Pierre Gasly Alpine DNF

After a tricky weekend at Bahrain and some crisis talk regarding his future with Red Bull, Max Verstappen drove a brilliant Q3 lap to take pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as Lando Norris made a mistake and crashed out.

After the Red Bull hierarchy held urgent meetings following a poor showing last time out in the Bahrain Grand Prix and with speculation in Jeddah turning towards whether Verstappen’s future could walk away from the Milton Keynes outfit, the reigning world champion did his talking on the track.

The four-time champion sealed his forty-second career pole position in Formula 1 with an awesome lap time of one minute 27.294 seconds, beating Oscar Piastri’s McLaren by a tiny margin of 0.010 seconds.

George Russell will start third after another good showing for Mercedes, while Charles Leclerc starts alongside him on row two in the lead Ferrari.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Carlos Sainz share row three, the latter clearly now settling into life at Williams with his best qualifying performance of the season.

Lewis Hamilton had said just making the top ten would be progress for him as he struggled for pace in his Ferrari, but he ultimately managed seventh position, with Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly also getting ahead of Norris after his crash.

Having spoken about having confidence issues on the eve on qualifying, Norris had been competing at the head of the field but was caught out around the tight Jeddah Corniche Circuit, hitting the wall at turn five during his opening Q3 run, labelling himself a “fucking idiot” over team radio.

It means, having started sixth in Bahrain last weekend, the championship leader is P10 on the grid on Sunday.

Alex Albon had looked strong throughout practice but narrowly missed out on the top ten shootout and is P11 on the grid, alongside Liam Lawson for Racing Bulls.

Fernando Alonso is P13 with Isack Hadjar and Oliver Bearman having also made it into Q2 before being eliminated.

Gasly survived pulling out of his garage with a tyre blanket still attached to the right front to get out of Q1, although his Alpine teammate Jack Doohan did not manage to escape the drop zone and will start P17, behind Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin.

Sauber struggled with Nico Hulkenberg down in P18 and Gabriel Bortoleto last after spinning on his final attempt as the second Haas of Esteban Ocon splits the pair.

So an exciting end to Q3 with Oscar Piastri and George Russell fighting for the the top spot and yet it was inevitable that Max Verstappen took pole. So congratulations to the Red Bull driver in achieving P1.

As for Lando Norris, that mistake was costly and with Jeddah being a tricky track to overtake, it will be interesting how the McLaren driver can recover.

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:27.294
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:27.304
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:27.407
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.670
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:27.866
6 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:28.164
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:28.201
8 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:28.204
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:28.367
10 Lando Norris McLaren No time
11 Alex Albon Williams 1:28.109
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:28.191
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:28.303
14 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:28.418
15 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:28.648
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:28.645
17 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:28.739
18 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:28.782
19 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:29.092
20 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:29.462

Oscar Piastri drove a superb lights-to-flag at Bahrain to score his second victory of this season for McLaren. His teammate Lando Norris had a challenging race with a time penalty for the false start and yet recovered to finish third.

Piastri took the chequered flag by 15 seconds from George Russell, closing in the drivers’ championship to within three points of Norris while Max Verstappen could only manage sixth.

The cooler conditions invited most cars to start on soft tyres for an expected two-stopper, with Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton the most notable medium starters. Piastri made a good start from pole and led the early running while Russell passed Leclerc for second, reclaiming the position he lost with a grid penalty.

Norris made an even better start and blitzed from sixth to third, although it soon became apparent the McLaren driver had been outside his grid slot, which resulted him a five second time penalty. He attempted to pass Russell on the first stint but to no avail, with Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz and Andrea Kimi Antonelli slotting in behind.

From seventh Verstappen initially unable to make much progress, but he soon followed Antonelli past a struggling Sainz, as did Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda behind them.

With his five-second penalty in mind Norris boxed early on lap 11 to bolt on mediums, serving his penalty during the stop. The powerful undercut allowed him to stay in the hunt up front and he soon shot past Gasly once more.

Verstappen, meanwhile, did not have new sets of mediums available like his direct competitors and was forced to take the less performant hards on his lap 11 pitstop, with the Red Bull driver quickly reporting the compound had no grip. It was apparent on the timesheets too, with Verstappen dropped by Haas driver Esteban Ocon before being passed by Antonelli and Hamilton, falling to ninth.

By that stage Russell had pitted for mediums on lap 13, neatly covered off by leader Piastri on the following lap. All eyes were then on the Ferraris as they attempted to make their start on mediums count, but both Leclerc and Hamilton already curtailed their first stint after 17 laps, despite Leclerc protesting against it.

Leclerc did use his fresher tyres to put pressure on Norris ahead and passed the faster McLaren on lap 24, while teammate Hamilton also found some pace to pass Ocon for sixth. As they approached the halfway mark Piastri easily controlled the race with a six-second gap to Russell, Leclerc and Norris. Gasly held firm in fifth with Hamilton approaching.

After 27 laps – and just 16 laps on the hards – Verstappen had seen enough and stopped again for a used set of mediums, desperate to get off the harder compound that proved the wrong tyre due to the cooler track conditions. Verstappen was further troubled by two slow pitstops, with a slow front-right tyre change dropping him down the order.

On lap 33 the cards were reshuffled when the safety car came out for debris in Turn 3, caused by pieces of Sainz’s floor shearing off after contact with Tsunoda.

The convenient timing prompted most runners to make their second and last pitstop, with leader Piastri grabbing another fresh set of mediums that were to see him through to the finish. Ocon and Doohan, who had just pitted for hards, stayed out, as did Ocon and Verstappen. Mercedes bolted soft tyres on the cars of Russell and Antonelli, which the former called “audacious”.

At the restart Piastri led Russell, Leclerc, Norris, and Hamilton. Gasly was sixth with a slight tyre disadvantage, as was Ocon. Verstappen took the restart in eighth.

On the lap 34 restart Piastri held station ahead of Russell and Leclerc, while Hamilton passed Norris for fourth. Norris attacked but went off the track, deciding to give up the position to Hamilton to avoid another penalty.

Realising the job he had on his hands to bring the car home, Russell was forced into looking after his more brittle softs rather than using the grippier compound to put pressure on the imperious Piastri.

As Piastri disappeared into the distance, Russell instead came under threat from behind while he started suffering from electronic glitches, which affected his dashboard and DRS mechanism. Norris was on the front foot with his preferred mediums, passing Hamilton once more and then hounding Leclerc into the final 15 laps, finally getting the job done around the outside of Turn 4 on lap 52.

Lando’s move on George for second didn’t come off thanks to stout defending from the Mercedes driver, who denied McLaren a 1-2 finish.

Five seconds behind fourth-placed Leclerc Hamilton had a lonely end to the race to fifth, rallying from a tough qualifying session. Gasly bravely held off Verstappen until the Red Bull driver picked the Alpine off on the final lap, but Verstappen will still be reeling from his sixth place after a reality check for Red Bull.

Ocon did successfully keep a Red Bull at bay – driven by Tsunoda – to claim eighth, with the Haas teammate Oliver Bearman securing a double points finish after holding off Antonelli and Albon.

Sainz was the only retirement after a disastrous afternoon that spiralled out of control due to the damage the Williams man suffered for the Tsunoda contact, and also included a 10-second penalty for forcing Antonelli off the track.

In the drivers’ championship Norris safeguarded his lead, but saw Piastri close to within three points as he jumped Verstappen for second. Verstappen now trails Norris by 10 points, with Russell heading to next weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 14 points behind.

So a better race at Bahrain compared to Japan and yet it was McLaren who scored a double podium. Congratulations to Oscar Piastri with a strong drive to score his second victory in this year’s world championship.

Bahrain Grand Prix, race results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:35:39.435
2 George Russell Mercedes +15.499s
3 Lando Norris McLaren +16.273s
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +19.679s
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +27.993s
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull +34.395s
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine +36.002s
8 Esteban Ocon Haas +44.244s
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +45.061s
10 Oliver Bearman Haas +47.594s
11 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +48.016s
12 Alexander Albon Williams +48.839s
13 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +53.472s
14 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +56.314s
15 Jack Doohan Alpine +57.806s
16 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +60.340s
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +64.435s
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +65.489s
19 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +66.872s
Carlos Sainz Williams DNF

Oscar Piastri achieved an important pole position at Bahrain over his McLaren teammate Lando Norris by qualifying at the top while the championship leader was down in P6 alongside Japanese race winner Max Verstappen.

Piastri looked the quicker of the two Papaya cars from Q2 and after being fastest on the first run of Q2, and he then confirm his pole on the deciding run on a rapidly improving Bahrain international Circuit.

George Russell produced a solid lap to take a front row slot for Mercedes, as Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari ahead of the second Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Pierre Gasly achieving a superb fifth position on the grid for Alpine.

Norris looked set to challenge Piastri and Russell for the front row, but a relatively poor final Q3 lap left him down in sixth. McLaren’s main challenger Red Bull suffered a disappointing qualifying session with Verstappen only in seventh.

Red Bull was under pressure from the start of qualifying as Verstappen went off the track on the final corner of his flyer, while teammate Tsunoda also lost his lap for track limits. Verstappen reported “there’s something really wrong with the car” but still managed to go through in third, two tenths behind session leader Norris, while Tsunoda also advanced.

Surprisingly, Alex Albon was out of Q1 for the first time this season, taking P16 in the Williams, as was Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson who suffered a DRS issue. They were joined in the drop zone by Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Oliver Bearman, who lost a shot at Q2 with a poor second sector, reporting problems with locking the front tyres in the Haas.

Q2 was quickly red flagged for a crash by Haas driver Esteban Ocon coming out of Turn 2. Starting his flying lap, Ocon already started suffering oversteer coming out of the corner, and then lost control over his car as soon as his unsettled car crossed the exit kerbs, spinning into the left-hand side wall. Ocon reported he was okay, with the session resuming after an eight-minute delay.

After the interruption McLaren wasted no time going first and sector once more, this time Piastri leading Norris by a tenth. Alpine once again proved the surprise package with Gasly taking third ahead of both Mercedes cars. His teammate Doohan looked set to join him in Q3, but a weaker final sector left the Alpine driver in P11.

Behind Doohan Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar was knocked out in P12, with Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso also eliminated, the latter slower on his compromised Q2 lap than he had been in Q1. The second qualifying phase again delivered a warning for the Red Bulls, with Verstappen and Tsunoda scraping through in ninth and tenth.

Verstappen also had a poor first lap in Q3 due to what he described as brake issues, while Piastri led the early part with a time of one minute, 30.233 seconds, a tenth ahead of Russell and Norris. The trio was a second clear of the rest, led by Ferrari’s Leclerc and Hamilton.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli and then Russell cycled through to take provisional pole on the final run, before Piastri restored McLaren’s advantage with his second pole position in his Formula 1 career.

However, post qualifying the race stewards have penalised both Mercedes drivers with an one-place grid penalty. This was due to the pair being sent into the fast lane of the pit lane before a session restart time – after Haas driver Esteban Ocon’s crash early in Q2 – was confirmed.

Leclerc managed to split the Mercedes cars in third, with Antonelli rallying from having his first lap deleted for track limits by grabbing his best Formula 1 qualifying result in fourth.

Gasly delighted Alpine with fifth on the grid, qualifying just 0.003 seconds behind Antonelli and ahead of a disappointed Norris and Verstappen. Carlos Sainz was eighth for Williams, with Hamilton failing to qualify higher than eighth after also seeing his first lap deleted for track limits.

Tsunoda rounded out the top ten due to not managing to put a clean lap together, but the Japanese driver’s Q3 berth signals some progress on his side of the Red Bull garage.

Congratulations to Oscar Piastri in taking pole position. This was expected as the MCL39 is a very fast car but shocking to see his McLaren teammate Lando Norris only P6. Mistakes in qualifying was costly and to be one place ahead of his championship challenger makes it interesting.

Bahrain Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:29.841
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.175
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:30.009*
4 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:30.216
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:30.213*
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1:30.267
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:30.423
8 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:30.680
9 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:30.772
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:31.303
11 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:31.245
12 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:31.271
13 Nico Hulkenburg Sauber 1:31.783
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:31.886
15 Esteban Ocon Haas No time
16 Alex Albon Williams 1:32.040
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:32.165
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:32.186
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:32.283
20 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:32.373
*One-place grid penalty following qualifying rule breaches