Jeddah: There was no antidote for Piastri.

The only real question of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was this: Can Max Verstappen's one-lap, lightning-fast pace be extended throughout the entire race, or will the balance tip towards the more stable Oscar Piastri during the longer stints.

Max Verstappen got off to a great start, but Oscar Piastri did similarly, and since both are equally hard-headed drivers, it was expected that they would not reach the first corner without incident. This is exactly what happened, as Verstappen overtook Piastri, who was slightly ahead, by cutting the chicane, in an illegal manner. By the time these frames were rolling, the safety car was already on its way, as Pierre Gasly had put himself into the wall along with Yuki Tsunoda. Neither the Frenchman nor the Japanese could continue the race, meanwhile, several drivers took the opportunity to switch to hard compounds.

After the restart, which was easily brought by Red Bull, Verstappen's team faced a serious dilemma: should they give the position back to Piastri, or risk a penalty? In the end, they decided on the latter for tactical reasons, but it didn't pay off much. During the first "real" pit stops, the RB received its five-second penalty, during which Piastri took the lead. What happened in the field during this time? Aside from Charles Leclerc's long stint, nothing particularly noteworthy, but it was a pleasure to watch. The Scuderia Ferrari driver, with brilliant tire management and strategy, threatened the podium positions in the last third of the race, and with a beautiful overtaking move, he passed George Russell. Besides him, Isaac Hadjar and the two Williams drivers also performed above average, all three consistently moving in the solid points-scoring zone. By the last laps, there was little action left, one of these was Lando Norris's comeback, who improved six positions and eventually stepped up to fourth place.

However, he could not interfere in the game of the big ones, as the race was won by Oscar Piastri, who thus leads the championship with the other McLaren. Behind him, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc could celebrate, as they all put in an extra effort on this day.

Photo: Planet F1/ AP Photo