How punchy Oscar Piastri ‘made case’ against Max Verstappen

Oscar Piastri says he “made my case” against Max Verstappen at the start of the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver impressively claimed his third victory from five races this season in Sunday night’s race in Jeddah, with the crucial, defining moment coming right at the start.

Piastri, starting on the inside from P2, got a better launch than pole sitter Verstappen and appeared to edge ahead heading into the braking zone for Turn 1.

However, Verstappen kept the lead by taking to the run-off area and skipping the corner. This was deemed an illegal action by the stewards, who handed the Red Bull driver a five-second time penalty.

An annoyed Verstappen served his penalty when he came in for his only pit stop and subsequently dropped behind Piastri, who went on to win by 2.843 seconds.

“It was a pretty tough race. Very, very happy to have obviously won and, yeah, made the difference at the start. I made my case into Turn 1 and that was enough,” Piastri said after the race.

“It was really tricky to follow out there. I couldn't really stay with Max at the end of the first stint, just chewed up my tyres and then the clean air was nice after the pit stop.

“So, great race. We did the parts we needed to right. Still need a bit more, I think. Max was a little bit too close for our liking, but a great race and a great weekend.”

Elaborating on his start, Piastri added: “Once I got on the inside, I wasn’t coming out of Turn 1 in second. So I tried my best.

“Obviously, the stewards had to get involved, but I thought I was plenty far enough up and in the end that’s what got me the race.

“So I'm very, very happy with all the work we've been doing in the starts. And, yeah, that’s what won us the race today.”

Championship lead changes nothing for Oscar Piastri

The win takes Piastri to the top of the F1 world championship standings for the first time in his career. He leads McLaren teammate Lando Norris by 10 points.

But does the new position change anything for Piastri?

“No,” he replied. “I still want to go out and try and win every race I can.

“I'm not that bothered by the fact that I'm leading the championship, but I'm proud of the work and the reasons behind why we're leading the championship.

“Melbourne wasn't a great start to the year in terms of results. But from the moment I've hit the track this season, I felt like I've been in a good place.

“Leading the championship is a result of all the hard work we've done in the off-season, the hard work I've done personally, the hard work the team's done.

“I'm more proud of all of those things than I am of the fact that I'm leading the championship because, ultimately, I want to be leading it after round 24, not round five.”