In Pictures: Saudi Arabia 2025
The first triple-header of the 2025 season came to an end on the shores of the Red Sea. Jeddah, a port city in Saudi Arabia, is regarded as the gateway for pilgrims heading to Mecca. It is also a major commercial center and cultural hub, known for its modern waterfront and the historic Al-Balad district.
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix first appeared on the calendar in December 2021. The next three editions were held in March, but this year marked the first time the race was run in April—bringing conditions more typical of summer, with higher temperatures, shifting winds, and increased humidity.
The Jeddah Corniche Circuit is 6.174 kilometers long and remains one of the fastest on the calendar, with drivers spending around 80% of the lap with the accelerator fully down. Despite that, it’s a complex layout featuring a record number of corners—27 in total, with 16 to the left and 11 to the right. Many are taken at medium or high speed. While the track has three DRS zones, overtaking is not straightforward due to the lack of heavy braking zones.
To date, 35 countries have hosted at least one race in motorsport’s blue riband category. Italy leads the list with 107 Grands Prix, followed by Germany, Great Britain, and the United States, each with 79. Saudi Arabia is the latest and fourth Middle Eastern country to join the calendar. The region as a whole has now hosted 44 races: 21 in Bahrain, 16 in Abu Dhabi, 4 in Saudi Arabia, and 3 in Qatar.
FRIDAY
A sea of yellow and red, with the occasional flash of white, summed up the color palette during Friday’s two hours of free practice. Only four drivers—Ocon and Bearman (Haas) in FP1, and Sainz and Albon (Williams) in FP1 and FP2 respectively—ran one of the two available sets of Hard tires. The rest of the field opted for two sets of Mediums and two sets of Softs each.
In FP1, it was Pierre Gasly who topped the timesheets for Alpine with a lap of 1:29.239—420 thousandths faster than Max Verstappen’s best time in the same session last year.
By the end of the day, McLaren led the way at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. The papaya-liveried duo set the fastest laps of the day in FP2, the evening session held under conditions identical to those expected for both qualifying and the race—making it the more representative of the two. Lando Norris was quickest with a 1:28.267, followed by teammate Oscar Piastri with a 1:28.430.
Friday’s best lap was just over half a second quicker than the fastest time from last year’s second session, when Fernando Alonso clocked a 1:28.827 in slightly cooler conditions, with the 2024 event having taken place in March.
SATURDAY
Max Verstappen is getting a taste for it. Following his pole in Japan, the four-time world champion snatched another one—this time in Saudi Arabia—right at the last moment, denying McLaren what looked like a dominant qualifying performance. Verstappen edged out Oscar Piastri by just ten thousandths of a second, setting a lap of 1:27.294 to the Australian’s 1:27.304.
George Russell, who had briefly gone quickest, ended up third with a 1:27.407. He’ll share the second row with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who clocked a 1:27.670.
With the exception of the first edition of this race in 2021—when Lewis Hamilton took pole for Mercedes—Red Bull has locked out the top spot in Jeddah every year: Sergio Pérez in 2022 and 2023, and now Verstappen for the second year running. It was the Dutchman’s 42nd career pole and the 105th for Red Bull Racing.
SUNDAY
There were few surprises on the grid, with just four drivers—Norris, Stroll, Hadjar, and Hülkenberg—choosing to start on the Hard compound, while the remaining 16 went with the Mediums. Three of them—Doohan, Ocon, and Bortoleto—took full advantage of an early Safety Car, brought out by a first-lap collision between Gasly and Tsunoda, to switch to the Hards almost immediately.
The strategies chosen matched our pre-race expectations, both in terms of the number of stops and the timing of the pit stop windows. Of the top teams, the only ones that tried something different were Leclerc, who went as long as possible on his first stint on Mediums (lap 29), and Norris who started on the Hard, pitting on lap 34.
Oscar Piastri won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, his third win from the five Grands Prix this year. He now also leads the Drivers’ championship, the first time an Australian has done so since the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix, when that honour fell to Mark Webber, Piastri’s manager.
Four teams have now won this race, with Red Bull having three victories to its name, while McLaren joins Mercedes with one. This was the Woking squad’s fourth win of the year, its 193rd in total.
Max Verstappen claimed his third podium finish of the season with today’s second place finish, meaning he has always been a top three finisher in Jeddah with two wins and three second places. Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari, his third podium here, with one second place and two thirds in the past two years.
With the first triple-header of the year now in the books, teams and drivers turn their attention to Miami, where a new challenge awaits on the streets of Florida.
NEXT STOP: MIAMI 🇺🇸
Excerpts from this article provided by Pirelli S.p.A. Photographs courtesy of Formula 1 teams and partners.
