Saudi Arabian GP driver ratings: Piastri reward for elbows out, Hamilton sinks again

Oscar Piastri took his third win of the season to move top of the Drivers’ Championship for the first time in his career.

A Turn 1 incident between him and Max Verstappen was crucial to the race, but it is the McLaren man who ultimately walked away with the winner’s trophy. Here are your driver ratings.

Driver ratings for the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri – 9

Four world titles separate Piastri and Verstappen, but the McLaren man showed he is not here just to take part.

He got his elbows out in a move that Verstappen himself would have been proud of, but crucially, he kept it within the track, meaning he was spared any penalty.

After the first rounds of pit stops, Piastri had the speed and the composure to take his third win of the season.

Max Verstappen – 8.5

A fantastic pole, but his very next moment in the car was just as crucial. Verstappen is known to be a tough racer, but he came up against the same thing in Oscar Piastri.

Neither driver wanted to give an inch, and Piastri’s great start gave him the advantage over Verstappen, landing the Dutchman in trouble with the FIA.

That was the race there and then, and you suspected whoever was leading at the end of the pit stops was always going to be the favourite.

Charles Leclerc – 9.5

Undoubtedly the driver of the day, Charles Leclerc was excellent in Jeddah.

His first stint on the mediums was a sight to behold. Not only did he keep them alive for 29 laps, but he did so while having a three-second lead over the rest of the field.

That extended stint gave him the freedom to push later on and he got past George Russell before holding Norris at arm’s length.

Lando Norris – 7.5

A good recovery drive from Norris, but he should not have put himself in a situation to need such a race.

As he admitted, his quali mistake was a “silly risk,” and we are already seeing how these small margins are having a big impact on the title race.

In the race itself, he did well to move up the order but was a little naive in his approach to passing Lewis Hamilton and almost got done on his pit exit.

George Russell – 7

He cooked his tyres far more than any of the other top runners, meaning that once he lost sight of Verstappen and Piastri up front, he was always looking behind rather than up ahead.

He lost places to Leclerc and Norris, landing him P5, his joint ‘worst’ result of the year.

Kimi Antonelli – 7

Like Russell, Antonelli struggled with tyre preservation late on, which is to be expected of a young rookie.

That led to the Italian slipping down one spot from his starting palace, as Norris made it by with little fuss.

Lewis Hamilton – 6.5

It was just a strange race from Hamilton, who went from looking awfully slow one minute to quick the next and then back to slow.

He showed some smart racecraft to keep Norris behind for as long as he could, but he began to drop like a stone pace-wise in the final stages of the race. All the while, his team-mate was on the podium.

Carlos Sainz – 8.5

That’s more like it.

Having enjoyed a good quali; Sainz has finally converted that into some decent points and even played the perfect team-mate to ensure it was a double Williams points score.

Qualifying ahead of the man who replaced him, Sainz watched as Hamilton and Norris passed by, but eighth was about the best he could have hoped for this weekend.

Alex Albon – 8

Having been frustrated to miss out on Q3, Albon showed his race skill to fight amongst the points and once he was in the DRS slipstream of Sainz, the pair managed to pull away from the trailing pack.

It is the fourth points score in five races for the Thai driver.

Isack Hadjar – 8

Starting 14th, Isack Hadjar produced a great race to finish in the points even if he was helped by a double DNF.

With Lawson two spots behind, the Racing Bulls car clearly had pace this weekend and the Frenchman managed to pass the likes of Fernando Alonso on his way to P10.

Fernando Alonso – 7.5

Better from Alonso and Aston but his wait for a first point of the season goes on.

Starting 13th, he rose two spots come the chequered flag, but that was due to the double DNF as well as his own driving.

His most memorable moment came when he narrowly avoided being hit by Gabriel Bortoleto, the driver he manages.

Liam Lawson – 7

A step in the right direction after P16 in Bahrain but Liam Lawson has still yet to really hit the ground running back at Racing Bulls.

He was hit with a 10-second penalty for gaining a advantage off track, but even without that, he would still have been behind his rookie team-mate.

Oliver Bearman – 6.5

Quicker than his team-mate, but still not enough to ever really challenge the points.

The Haas car seems to be very dependent on the track and Jeddah has not been kind to them this weekend.

Esteban Ocon – 6

Rose five places in the race but qualified 19th meaning it was always going to be a recovery drive for the Frenchman.

He suffered the ignominy of being asked to step aside for his rookie team-mate.

Nico Hulkenberg – 6

Hulkenberg’s P7 in Australia is looking more and more like a distant dream with the Sauber car quickly becoming one of the worst on the grid.

A quali spot of 18th at least improved to P15 but still nowhere near a points score.

Lance Stroll – 4.5

Another poor quali session from Lance Stroll meant it was going to take quite the race to finish in the top 10.

The Canadian was in that top half for a while as Aston tried an alternative strategy but he sank lower and lower down the order until he finished 16th.

Jack Doohan – 4

Pierre Gasly showed the Alpine had pace this weekend but Jack Doohan did not come close to matching it.

P17 in quali stayed that way as his hunt for points goes on.

Gabriel Bortoleto – 4

Yes he does not have the quickest car by any stretch but Bortoleto has done little of note so far this season and almost took out Alonso in Jeddah.

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Did not finish

Yuki Tsunoda – 6.5

Managed P8 in quali but seemed to be caught cold by the overtaking Gasly in the opening lap.

Both went spinning into the wall and even if Tsunoda made it back to the pits, he did so with a rear wing that was broken beyond repair.

Pierre Gasly – 7

Up until the crash, Gasly was enjoying a good weekend but his effort to get into Q3 quickly amounted to nothing when he collided with former team-mate Tsunoda.

It was an opening lap incident and maybe if Gasly had his time again, he would have held back and not gone for the overtake so soon in the race.