FORMULA 1
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 Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool Oscar Piastri wins the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen finishing second and Charles Leclerc in third place. Max Verstappen picked up a five-second penalty on the first lap for leaving the track and gaining an advantage over Oscar Piastri, as his teammate collided with Pierre Gasly on the first lap, bringing out the yellow flag and ending both Yuki and Pierre's race. Oscar Piastri moves into the lead of the drivers championship, ten points ahead of Lando Norris. Race Facts
 Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool Max Verstappen started on pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Lando Norris, Lance Stroll, Isack Hadjar and Nico Hulkenberg all started on the hard compound tyre, with the majority of the field starting on the medium tyre compound. Max Verstappen started on pole position and just managed to remain in the lead of the race into the first corner after running wide in a battle with Oscar Piastri. This was noted by race control, and Max Verstappen received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an unfair advantage. The first lap hadn't even finished before a full safety car was deployed as Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda touched briefly, but it was enough to send the Alpine into the wall. Yuki managed to get his car turned around and going again. Esteban Ocon, Jack Doohan, Gabriel Borteloto and Yuki Tsunoda all stopped on the hard compound tyre for an early pit stop. However, Red Bull was forced to retire the car. The safety car ended on lap four with Max Verstappen remaining in the lead at the safety car restart with Piastri and Russell very close behind him. At the start of the race, Norris moved up two places into eight, Hamilton into sixth ahead of Sainz, Albon into ninth, Alonso into tenth, and Hadjar into 11th after Yuki and Gasly were out of the race.  Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool Lando Norris was moving down the field and overtook Sainz for seventh with an overtake on lap six. Further forward, Oscar Piastri was keeping on the back of Max Verstappen within the DRS range. Drivers were already struggling to cool their cars on lap 11, with the dirty air, humid temperatures and the cars being so close together. This, however, didn't seem to stop Lando Norris as he was closing up to the DRS range of Lewis Hamilton, and he managed to get past briefly on the last corner. however, Hamilton passed the McLaren once again on the start/finish straight and it was Hamilton who remained in front on lap 13. Further behind, Liam Lawson overtook Ollie Bearman for 12th place, with the RB looking promising for race pace. Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton's battle continued for two laps, with Norris eventually getting the job done on the start/finish straight on lap 15, moving into sixth place.  Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool Max Verstappen tried to build as much of a lead as possible over Oscar Piastri before pitting and serving his five-second penalty as the medium tyre runners moved towards the pit stop window. Lando Norris was closing onto the back of Kimi Antonelli and managed to overtake the Mercedes driver on lap 19. Ollie Bearman and was the first to pit in the open tyre window. Piastri pitted for hard tyres on lap 20, but it was a slow stop, with Verstappen pushing hard to create a gap in front. Piastri rejoined the track in sixth, as Antonelli also pitted and came back out in 11th. Russell pitted on lap 21 from third onto hard tyre and rejoined the track in seventh place. As Lawson also pitted. Piastri passed Hamilton in Turn 22 for fourth just as Max Verstappen pitted and served his five-second penalty. Rejoining the track in fifth, with Leclerc leading the Grand Prix but Piastri in the net lead. Verstappen was on a mission to get past Lewis Hamilton and pushing further forward, but being held up by the Ferrari. Verstappen makes a move around Hamilton, but Hamilton pits with Verstappen moving into fourth place, 3.8s behind Piastri. Piastri runs a lot faster. Borteloto moved under, breaking, and Alonso almost came together, but Alonso gave the space back. Alonso gets past on lap 26. On lap 30, Charles Leclerc was still leading the race on his medium tyres, but he had yet to pit and wasn't losing lap time. Lando Norris was in second, also yet to pit, but started on the hard compound tyres. Leclerc pitted with a 2.0s stop on lap 30, changing to the hard compound tyres and rejoining the track in fifth. Norris moved into the race lead but was yet to pit, followed by Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen, George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar (yet to pit), Lewis Hamilton, Lance Stroll, Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Liam Lawson, Fernando Alonso, Jack Doohan, Ollie Bearman and Gabriel Borteloto.  Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool Norris was extending his lead with Oscar 2.3 seconds behind, with Norris yet to pit, but Oscar was moving into the dirty air of Norris. Norris finally pits on lap 34 onto the medium compound tyres and rejoins the track in fifth behind Charles Leclerc. Charles Leclerc was flying, overtaking George Russell for the final podium place. Lando Norris was noted, but later ruled that no further investigation was needed for crossing the line at the pit exit. Meanwhile, on track, Norris overtook Russell for fourth place. On lap 42 of 50, Oscar Piastri was leading the race with Max Verstappen, who only managed to keep 4.1 seconds behind the Australian driver. Team orders came into play, with Sainz dropping back slightly to keep Alex Albon within DRS range of him and keep Hadjar behind. Kick Sauber swapped their drivers in P15 and 16. Norris tries really hard to catch Leclerc for third place but doesn't quite manage it. Oscar Piastri won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, followed by Max Verstappen in second place and Charles Leclerc in third place. Lando Norris only manages fourth, with George Russell fifth and Kimi Antonelli sixth.  Ferrari Media Full Race Classification1) Oscar Piastri 2) Max Verstappen +2.843 3) Charles Leclerc +8.104 4) Lando Norris +9.196 5) George Russell +27.236 6) Kimi Antonelli +34.688 7) Lewis Hamilton +39.073 8) Carlos Sainz +64.630 9) Alex Albon +66.515 10) Isack Hadjar +67.091 11) Fernando Alonso +75.917 12) Liam Lawson +78.451 13) Oliver Bearman +79.194 14) Esteban Ocon +99.723 15) Nico Hulkenberg +1 Lap 16) Lance Stroll 17) Jack Doohan 18) Gabriel Bortoleto DNF Yuki Tsunoda DNF Pierre Gasly Oscar Piastri wins his third race of the season in the McLaren, he said: "I’m looking for a couch, it was a pretty tough race. I’m very happy to have obviously won, I made the difference at the start and made my case in to Turn One and that was enough. "It was really tricky to follow out there, I couldn’t really stay with Max Verstappen at the end of the first stint and I just chewed up my tyres. The clean air was nice after the pit stop, it was a clean race and we did the parts we needed to right. "We still needed a bit more, Max [Verstappen] was a bit too close for our liking but a great race and a great weekend." On the start: "Once I got on the inside I wasn’t coming out of Turn One in second. I tried my best and obviously the stewards had to get involved, but I thought I was far enough and in the end that's what got me the race. "I'm very happy with all the work we've been doing on the starts and that's what won us the race for us today." On the physicality of this race: "That was one of our biggest upgrades this week, the drinks working. "It’s always a tough race around here, it’s a little bit later into the year so I think it's a little bit warmer and a little bit humid, definitely one of the toughest races I've had in my career so I'm happy I could come out on top in it."  Written by Anny Wooldridge
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