A last-gasp move at the final corner, a sprint to the chequered flag, a photo finish: It would be great to see more grands prix finish that way.
That did happen on Sunday, but as it decided who occupied the final two places in the finishing order instead of the winner, it was widely overlooked.
Jack Doohan caught 17th-placed Gabriel Bortoleto as the final laps counted down. Both drivers had changed tyres on the first lap of the race, but Doohan made a second pit stop while Bortoleto plugged away on his old rubber.
Doohan took 14 seconds out of Bortoleto in four laps to arrive on his tail at the final corner. The Sauber was powerless to resist, and Doohan beat him to the line by 0.042 seconds.
This is the closest gap between the two drivers classified in the last two places since the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix. On that occasion Sergio Perez pipped Brendon Hartley to the line by 0.027s. The pair finished 12th and 13th respectively in the original classification but both received 30-second time penalties which dropped them to the rear of the field.
Up at the sharp end, Oscar Piastri beat Max Verstappen to the line by 2.8 seconds for his third grand prix victory of the season. It means he now has as many career wins as his team mate Lando Norris – this time last year both were yet to win their first grand prix.
Piastri’s win also propels him to the top of the championship table, overtaking Norris. He is the first driver to take the points lead off his team mate since Lewis Hamilton passed Valtteri Bottas at the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix.
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The Melburnian is the first Australian driver to lead the world championship since Mark Webber after the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix. Webber is now Piastri’s manager.
McLaren have now won four of the first five rounds this year. It took them until the 17th grand prix of last season to score their fourth victory. This was their first victory in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen claimed pole position with a record-breaking lap of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, and continued Red Bull’s run of four consecutive poles at this track. He has an excellent record of converting pole positions to victories, with 33 wins from 42 poles. However he has found it increasingly difficult to keep up that rate: his last eight pole positions have yielded four wins.
Charles Leclerc joined them on the podium, giving Ferrari their first rostrum appearance this year. Norris chased him to the line for fourth and picked up his 15th fastest lap as he did. He now has as many as Jackie Stewart, Clay Regazzoni and Felipe Massa.
Aston Martin had little to cheer about in their 100th grand prix. Fernando Alonso’s point-less start to the season continued and Lance Stroll dropped out in Q1 for the third time this year. That was Stroll’s 75th Q1 elimination, which is the most of any F1 driver, surpassing the record held by Kevin Magnussen.
Stroll is also one of only two drivers to have entered all five races at this track but never scored a point. The other is Yuki Tsunoda, who crashed on the first lap on Sunday. That was at least better than his 2022 appearance when his AlphaTauri broke down before the start.
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Over to you
Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.
2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
- Russell told race control what he thought of Verstappen’s first lap corner cut
- Doohan’s final corner pass on Bortoleto was F1’s closest fight for last place in seven years
- “Singapore plan” radio message was the wrong choice of words, Vowles admits
- ‘You’re the effective leader’: Full radio from Piastri and Verstappen’s Jeddah tussle
- Leclerc hopes new front wing for Spanish GP will be “turning point” for Ferrari
