McLaren drivers wary of Verstappen's pace in Saudi Arabian GP

Verstappen started the race from pole with Piastri alongside him, the latter having a better start, beating the former into Turn 1. Verstappen tried to hold on, using his usual trick of braking in the last minute possible, but Piastri kept his car within the line, the #1 Red Bull going off and getting slapped with a five-second penalty.

In the end, Verstappen finished the race less than three seconds behind Piastri, which meant he could've won had he not messed up his start with the consequent penalty. Which was as good as the odds offered at The Casino Wizard for this race.

Piastri’s win in Jeddah and his strong start to the season have made him the new favourite for the 2025 F1 drivers’ title, ahead of both Verstappen and Norris.

And while McLaren have been insisting they do not have the advantage everyone claims they enjoy, they were back to promoting the same narrative after the pace Verstappen showed in Jeddah last weekend.

"The fact that I crossed the line first, to be honest. It wasn't the easiest of wins," Piastri claimed. "The start was tough; the first stint was tough behind Max. And then once I had some clean air, it was a bit easier to manage.

“But I still couldn't afford to take my foot off the gas. It was a difficult race, and Max was quick behind me, so I had to keep pushing. I could control it reasonably well, but it was a little bit tighter than I would have liked.

"Max was quicker than I expected for sure in the race," the Australian continued. "I thought over one lap it wasn't a huge surprise to see Max quick, but in the race, I wasn't expecting to struggle so much at the end of the medium stint, that's for sure.

“So clearly we've got some work to do. I think our car is still very good, but when you look at the layout here compared to Suzuka, it's the most similar so far, and it's been the two where Max and Red Bull have been closer.

“I think we still have an advantage. I don't think it's as big on surfaces like this and layouts like this, but we still have a very strong car at the moment," Piastri concluded.

Norris echoed his teammate's sentiments and added: "Red Bull are just as quick in qualifying. They're just as quick as us in the race. Just because we're quick in practice, people just keep coming up with all this crap.

"We don't believe we're much ahead, as it shows. I think probably Max was the quickest out there today, so we have work to do.

"People keep saying that we're the best, we're the quickest, blah blah blah, but it's just because we show a bit more pace in practice," Norris concluded.

Piastri now leads the 2025 Formula 1 drivers' championship with 99 points, ten more than Norris in second place, while Verstappen is two points further down in third.

McLaren lead the constructors' standings by 77 points from second-placed Mercedes, while Red Bull Racing are third, 99 points adrift.

(Quotes from Motorsport.com)