Piastri wins in Jeddah to take Formula One lead

JEDDAH: Oscar Piastri won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday (Apr 20) to seize the lead in the Formula One world championship from McLaren teammate Lando Norris with his third win in five races.

Red Bull's four-times champion Max Verstappen was runner-up, 2.843 seconds behind the Australian, after starting from pole at Jeddah's Corniche circuit but collecting a five-second penalty for a first corner clash with Piastri.

Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari's first podium of the campaign and Norris clawed his way from 10th on the grid to fourth.

Victory made Piastri, triumphant in Bahrain last weekend and China last month, the first Australian to lead the championship since his manager Mark Webber in 2010 and also the first back-to-back winner this season.

He now leads Norris, whose race was heavily compromised by a crash in qualifying, by 10 points after starting the night three behind.

Piastri has 99 points to Norris's 89 and Verstappen's 87. Champions McLaren stretched their lead over Mercedes in the constructors' standings to 77 points.

"It was a pretty tough race. I’m very, very happy to have won. Made the difference at the start. Made my case into Turn One, and that was enough," said the happy winner.

"Definitely one of the toughest races I've had in my career," he added after 50 laps in 30 degree temperatures around a super-fast track.

George Russell was fifth for Mercedes with Italian teammate Kimi Antonelli sixth and seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton seventh for Ferrari.

Williams had Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon eighth and ninth with Racing Bulls' French rookie Isack Hadjar the final points scorer in 10th.

There was immediate controversy at the start as Verstappen and Piastri went side-by-side into the first