Five Takeaways from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

The 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix concluded with a new leader in the drivers' championship, plenty of penalty controversy, and a much-needed break for all the teams and drivers.

Oscar Piastri clinched the victory despite not securing pole position, overcoming a challenging battle at Turn 1 with Red Bull's Max Verstappen, which led to a contentious penalty for the Dutch driver.

Here 5 takeaways from the race:

The Red Bull RB21 is not as bad as once thought

Max Verstappen took home two pole positions in the last three races, one of them resulting in a win and the other a still-promising runner-up finish.

Heading into the season, it was anticipated that the car would potentially be the third or fourth fastest on the grid. However, with five races already completed, it seems the car is capable of delivering a win on any given Sunday.

It still seems to have issues getting into the proper operating window, but once it does, it can surely win races for the team.

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Yuki Tsunoda achieved consecutive Q3 finishes in the car and could have been competitive in Jeddah had it not been for a first-lap crash.

Formula 1 cars cornering at high speed 💯😲#F1 || #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/14GopSVRrK
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) April 22, 2025

Regardless of the initial expectations for Red Bull heading into the season, the RB21 is not a significantly slower car than the McLaren or Mercedes; in fact, it can be faster than both at any track.

If Max Verstappen wins a fifth consecutive title in 2025, it won't be with a drastically slower car.

Lando Norris is right about the McLaren car not being dominant

The McLaren MCL39 appears to be the marginally faster car among the top competitors, though it's not the dominant, world-beating vehicle many expected heading into the season.

Lando Norris has been working to challenge the narrative of a dominant McLaren car, emphasizing that it's primarily the drivers who are making the biggest impact. Although the car remains strong, there could be more truth to this claim than previously thought.

It is certainly an impressive car; it is consistently easy on the tires, seems to always have a good deal of balance, and is rapid through most corners, demonstrating how well it carries speed.

Fastest lap to cap off a great drive from LN4 👏#McLaren pic.twitter.com/0bMqwqEstZ
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) April 22, 2025

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc has consistently referred to the McLaren as "on another planet" compared to Ferrari, a sentiment shared by other teams on the grid, including Mercedes and Red Bull.

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In reality, however, the car is simply not pulling away drastically. While the concept seems great, the car struggles in dirty air, which has been prevalent throughout many of the races.

It is possible that the dirty air is stifling much of the McLaren's performance, but what is also certain is that the car is not guaranteed to deliver a win at every track, and it can be caught if another team does a better job with setting it up.

The Ferarri SF-25 is making progress

Ferrari brought a major floor upgrade to the last race in Bahrain, which the team was hoping would start to deliver in Saudi, and that is exactly what it has managed to do.

The car still has a key weakness regarding its qualifying pace, but its race pace continues to improve, and during the race in Jeddah, it even rivaled McLaren's. Charles Leclerc delivered the team's first podium of the season by holding back Lando Norris, a feat that would have seemed unimaginable only a few weeks ago.

The SF-25 under the Jeddah lights ✨ pic.twitter.com/vmevqtmoTu
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) April 22, 2025

There is a caveat that Norris started much lower on the grid; had he completed a lap, Leclerc likely would not have gotten the podium. However, it still shows the progress the car has made.

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The team will have some downtime to readdress any issues that the car has, as well as aid Lewis Hamilton in getting more comfortable with the team and performing at the same level as Leclerc is.

Carlos Sainz is getting more comfortable at Williams

After finishing in P8 and scoring his first points with the British racing team, Carlos shows signs that he is settling into the car.

His teammate Alex Albon had outqualified and outscored the team in the first few races, but Sainz has now outqualified Albon for two consecutive races.

Sainz is finally adapting his driving style to the Williams car and has been able to bring other qualities that are helping the team develop the car and make better strategic calls.

It was a slow start for Sainz, who misunderstood the driver transfer shuffle and had to settle for a midfield team even though he is regarded as a top driver.

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His gamble to choose Williams over Alpine or Sauber seems to be paying off; he is regularly in contention to score points.

Jeddah is one of the best street races on the calendar

The issue with street tracks is that they tend to be narrow, especially for today's generation of F1 cars.

The lack of width limits overtaking opportunities, but given the powerful nature of the DRS at Jeddah and the straights providing a nice potential for on-track battles, the race represents the best of what a street race can offer.

The cars seemingly just miss several corners and barriers, with a simple mistake being the difference between finishing the race and ending up in the wall.

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The qualifying laps at the track are amazing, featuring a nighttime setting and consecutive corners that really allow the driver to hook up a lap.

The Saudi GP provides eye-catching aesthetics, a challenge for drivers, and room for good racecraft.

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