2025 Saudi Arabian GP: Post Race Analysis

An exceptionally fast track with concrete walls just off the edge of the track which leaves little margin of error. A fun track to watch onboard and the race was okay but after 5 races it seems track position and clean air is vital this season. We may see some jockeying between 2nd and 6th, but rarely have we seen a true fight for 1st during the race.

McLaren scoop another win with Oscar Piastri, who takes the championship lead. He again proves his composure is going to be worth a ton to this championship battle. Lando has the speed but once again, cracked under pressure and made another costly mistake. A good recovery drive but we've seen a few mistakes from his side in only 5 races when the real pressure isn't on yet.

Red Bull still are the 4th best car at best. Verstappen got screwed. For years now we have talked about if a driver gets beside another car, front tires alongside each other, then space must be given. This rule typically gets talked about when a driver is attempting a pass on the outside and gets alongside in the braking zone. Max and Oscar were side by side from the start right to the corner. Both drivers earned their right to space. Oscar simply did not give any, he drove his car right to the edge of the curb like he was by himself and Max had nowhere to go. Any talk about Max should have backed off is crazy, especially going into the first corner of the race when it's common for the field to go through side by side. In fact, every one from Sainz and Hamilton back went through turn 1 and 2 side by side. We didn't hear them saying Lewis and everyone in that outside lane should have backed off to the inside car did we? Push a car off the track - 5 second penalty. Go off and gain an advantage - 5 second penalty. Penalties offset each other and since we always let some scrappy racing go on in the first lap and especially turn 1, that is a racing incident all day. Never the less Max was brilliant once again. Yuki pinched Gasly and caused the wreck, but lap 1 battle we call that a racing incident.

Ferrari grab a podium with a superb drive by Charles. He did a fabulous job on the medium tires to extend his stint longer than anyone. The car just didn't have the speed to move forward anymore. He got the maximum for sure. Hamilton looked particularly slow this weekend. Funny we saw him playing the brake check games to get himself DRS down the main straight. The difference was Lando had sense enough not to drive himself up Lewis' tailpipe.

Mercedes still showing they are very solid this year. However their front wing was flexing to extreme degrees and that amount of flex will be banned sooner than later, so we will see how that affects Mercedes' overall performance. Tire wear was worse for them than their competitors. George Russell babied his car home to protect his tire from blowing out. He was significantly faster than Kimi in the race though.

Williams a double point day. Great job by them, they deserve a good result. Carlos finally getting to grips with the car. Hard to say if they were fast enough to get points, at least double points without Gasly and Yuki retiring.

RB were in the fight for point. Hadjar definitely looked faster than Albon at the end, though there was a tire difference. It's good to see they consistently have been in the fight for a points all year.

Aston Martin is probably the second worst car on the grid and no signs of improvements. The fact Alonso finished 11th is pretty remarkable, but how frustrating it must be to drive beyond the means of the car and not even get a point out of it. Stroll, has done anything this season? He drives around but hasn't been in a single fight or made a single pass for position that I can think of. If he moves forward, it's because of cars in front crashing or making mistakes.

Haas didn't get things right this weekend. Is it a tire wear thing like we have seen before? Is it the car just isn't that great in high speed corners? Is it the car isn't great at tracks that have a lot of top speed? Hard to say but they struggled and really weren't in the fight. Bearman continues to impress though, once again beating Ocon pretty easily.

Sauber do the worst car. Hulkenberg has figured something out as he has picked up his performance a lot since the first race. Bortoleto looked strong early this season, but hasn't really looked very good as of late. Another tough day, last of the finishing cars.

Alpine lost all hope as soon as Gasly got wrecked. Such a shame, he's looked really good lately and probably would have been fighting for points. Doohan had made a case for worst driver of 2025. It's possible his seat will be at risk sooner than later.

Driver of the Day: Charles Leclerc. Was a tire whisperer on the soft tires, found pace on the hard tires and had no trouble keeping Lando behind despite the McLaren being much faster and also on fresher medium tires. Outstanding performance and a well deserved podium.

 

It's BS when any driver pushes another off the track. The manipulation by the FIA/F1 seem to pick and choose who gets a penalty when and where as long as it's fitting to keeping their championship worth watching until the last race.

Is it a penalty if a driver pushes another driver off the track? YES.

Since Oscar forced Max off, he deserved a 5 second penalty. Since Max gained an advantage, he deserves a 5 second penalty. It's a wash especially going into the first corner of the race so we don't give either a penalty. Ideally in that 2 wrongs situation, Max would have let Oscar get along side wheel to wheel into the next brake zone, but that's never going to happen and it wouldn't count anyways. The only resolve to the public jury or the fools in F1 for this "unfair advantage" is if Max let Oscar by and that is completely unfair.