The victory of Oscar Piastri has led Australia to the top of the Formula One World Championship for the first time since 2010.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri won the Formula One Saudi Arabia Grand Prix and moved above the driver’s championship after five races in the season.
The 24-year-old became the first driver of the season to win while not starting on pole, and comfortably finished the race before Max Burstappen, the runner-up at Red Bull.
Charles Leclerc finished third to give Ferrari the first podium of the season. Piastri’s McLaren teammate Rand Norris was fourth, Mercedes’ George Russell was fifth, and Kimi Antonelli was sixth.
In the second straight after his third victory of the season and winning Bahrain last week, Piastri became Australia’s first driver to lead the driver’s championship rankings since Mark Webber in 2010.
Piastri, who started the race from a second position on the starting grid, ended up leading on a 6.1km (3.8 miles) track after Verstappen penalised for 22 laps for a five-second penalty.
In addition to his 2025 race victory in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Piastri also won the second race of the season in China. McLaren won four of the five races after Norris won the season open race in Australia.
Verstappen’s runner-up finish comes after winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in two of the past three years.
In the driver’s championship, Piastri scored 99 points on Norris’ 89 and Verstappen’s 87.
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