2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – McLaren – Race Report

Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Sunday, 20 April

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal Andrea Stella, after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

As it happened

• Oscar and Verstappen battle for P1 off the line before a Lap 1 crash triggers an early Safety Car • Lando gains two spots to run P8 by Lap 2 • After the restart, Max receives a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage • Lando passes Sainz for P7, Hamilton for P6, and Antonelli for P5 • Oscar pits for Hards on Lap 20, rejoining in P6 and soon passes Hamilton for P4 • After a round of pit stops, Lando moves up to P2 and Oscar to P3. Leclerc pits, putting Lando in the lead and Oscar in P2 • Lando pits on Lap 35 for Mediums, rejoining P5 and overtaking Russell for P4 • Oscar takes our first-ever win at the Saudi Arabian GP, with Lando finishing P4

“Very, very happy to have won, that was a tough race! We’ve put a lot of work into our starts recently, and in the end, that’s played a big part in the victory. It was really tricky out there at times, chewing up the tyres, but once we got into clean air it was nice. The team did a great job executing the strategy and we did all the parts right that we needed to.

“We’ve still got work to do, it’s very close at the front, but it’s been a great weekend. We can now turn our attention to working hard at the factory next week before heading to Miami.”

“A good day overall with a strong recovery. Well done to Oscar and the rest of the team for getting the win, we've come away from the weekend with more important points.

“On my side, we had a good strategy, and we optimised it to gain valuable positions. It's a shame I didn’t finish with a podium but otherwise I'm happy with the comeback and my drive today. I’ll now go away from the triple header to reset and work with my engineers to make positive steps forward.” 

“We end this long triple header with another win for Oscar and a strong drive recovery for Lando. Firstly, I'd like to thank the team, both here at the track and back in Woking, as well as our colleagues at HPP, for their hard work throughout this triple header. In particular this weekend, I would like to commend the team on their excellent work getting Lando’s car ready for today’s race.

“On Oscar’s side, he drove an excellent race, and was able to convert his front-row start into a win, thanks to some smart and calm driving. This was a well-deserved win for Oscar. Meanwhile, Lando was able to put a difficult Qualifying behind him and showed his resilience as he fought his way back through the field, scoring important points.

“We’ll now take some time to regroup with the team in Woking as we prepare to head to Miami for the next round of what is proving to be an extremely competitive and exciting season of Formula 1.”