Poll: Official 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Thread - Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah- Race 5/24

[edGfaCTor]

The way Red Bull have been going on you'd think their car was missing a wheel or something.. The truth is its still very fast but it needs to have an exceptional talent driving it and be right in its small operating window. He was making adjustments on his pole lap yesterday but he was hardly sawing at the wheel making loads of corrections. Plus it looked extremely smooth.

There will also be some tracks where some cars are just better than others and most tracks where Ferrari will ruin their car setup, that's just life.

The car was designed for Max which is why he is able to get the best out of it and he has been in that team for a long time not just dropped into the seat.

Max got off easy he should have had 10 sec or been forced to give the place he has gained no way would he have been only around 2 sec behind at the end.

 

[chrismscotland]

Max got a five second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

I wasn’t paying full attention all the time but didn’t Lawson get a ten second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage?

Why the difference? Or did I mishear it?

I have to admit I didn't see the Lawson thing but it seems like they did their "Lap 1" thing where drivers get away with a bit more than they do later

 

[Mesai]

I assume you mean in quali, as there isn't much he could have done better in the race other than smashing into the back of Lewis.

He wasted 3 laps behind Lewis, which probably could’ve had him in DRS range of Charles. He just isn’t good enough.

 

[Mr Jack]

He wasted 3 laps behind Lewis, which probably could’ve had him in DRS range of Charles. He just isn’t good enough.

Masterful team effort from Lewis.

 

[imtoooldforthis]

Masterful team effort from Lewis.

He'd have had a better chance of finishing ahead of Antonelli if he had just let Lando through. He lost nearly 4 seconds in 2 laps from the somewhat pointless battle with Lando. Hate to tell drivers to not race but at the time i wondered why he was bothering given he was losing lots of time to Antonelli and obviously never going to finish ahead of Lando.

I guess if he had been told to do it by Ferrari to benefit Leclerc then it makes more sense, dunno if that was the case though, especially as it was quite early in the race.

 

[Tigget]

No issues with how Max raced/does race for me, I enjoy the pure aggression, the willingness to go for the tiniest gap and refusal to give an inch - as always this is just my personal opinion. But you have to say, perfectly raced from Oscar, nice race craft - you have to just take your hat off.

 

[teh_captain]

Was an OK race, nothing to write home about apart from the yearly scheduled Safety Car.

Oscar is on it this year, kid is ice cold, fast and has been getting better and better with managing these Pirellis. His pass on Lewis was absolutely mega.
Max really hates being raced the way he races people, huh? Guy is clearly one of the best to ever do it but man....he's so unlikeable.
Leclerc really maximised whatever that Ferrari had today, great pace.

And a special mention to Lmaodo Norris - managing to get schooled twice by Hamilton out of the final corner with his engineer needing to coach him on what to do. Lad is fast but christ sometimes his racecraft is not great

 

[Dup]

By the time Oscar's front axle was ahead it was too late to back out for Max. It was always going be a "he says she says" situation with the very fine margins for error. I don't think the penalty was right but Max did gain some time cutting the corner. I think the race outcome would have been the same either way.

 

[Vinno]

I still have my suspicions that Lando isn't quite as good as I hope he is/want him to be. Even back in his F2 season I got that feeling occasionally. I feel like Max or George in that car today would have got a podium place comfortably, maybe even second.

Oh well, the season continues and it's nice and close - just like we all wanted.

 

[t2na]

He'd have had a better chance of finishing ahead of Antonelli if he had just let Lando through. He lost nearly 4 seconds in 2 laps from the somewhat pointless battle with Lando. Hate to tell drivers to not race but at the time i wondered why he was bothering given he was losing lots of time to Antonelli and obviously never going to finish ahead of Lando.

I guess if he had been told to do it by Ferrari to benefit Leclerc then it makes more sense, dunno if that was the case though, especially as it was quite early in the race.

I think it was probably something discussed beforehand, Norris was always going to make his way through so any effort to slow him down by Lewis was always going to help Leclerc.

Either way, amateur from Norris to make the same overtaking error twice and not learn from it.

 

[RavenXXX2]

Jos Verstappen on a balcony at T10

 

[Mr Jack]

By the time Oscar's front axle was ahead it was too late to back out for Max. It was always going be a "he says she says" situation with the very fine margins for error. I don't think the penalty was right but Max did gain some time cutting the corner.

Max chose an absurd line so he could pretend he was driven off. Take your choice whether you think that was purest driven dirt or clever racing but Max is skilled enough to know exactly what he was doing.

 

[BuffetSlayer]

Max knows the rules inside out. Part of his talent as a driver is that he rarely makes mistakes and he knows how to play the game. Everything is done for a reason.

My guess is he knew Oscar got the upper hand off the line and so banked on the next most likely thing and that is the move into T1 being dropped as a first turn incident.

On some days he may have been right. But not today. The decision went Oscar's way. Next race it may go Max's way. That's the thing with playing the odds, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

Oscar has the tools and the mindset to be WDC. If he keeps performing like this over the season he will achieve it. Meanwhile Lando is crumbling.

His post race interview was illuminating and I personally don't feel that he cast himself in a good light and essentially seemed to be trying to almost excuse his performance by making out the car wasn't all that great.

At the same time Max is showing he is hungry and he certainly has the talent to take WDC this year. Either RBR is sandbagging or Max and the RBR team are working incredibly hard to extract maximum performance. So far for me, Max is the driver of the championship. He is extracting extraordinary performance from that car and is making fewer mistakes. I don't think you can rule RBR out of taking both the WDC and the WCC this season.

 

[Scam]

If Piastri was the one who went off next to Max at that corner everyone would have been blaming Max for it!

The difference is that Max will drive people off when he hasn’t earned the right to. He does it either when he’s not in front at the apex, or when he is in front at the apex it’s because he has outbraked himself and doesn’t actually make the corner. Piastri was ahead at the apex and made the corner perfectly cleanly, hence the pass was done and should be counted.

I have to admit I didn't see the Lawson thing but it seems like they did their "Lap 1" thing where drivers get away with a bit more than they do later

Did they even show the Lawson one? I don’t recall seeing it either.

So far for me, Max is the driver of the championship

When do we get to see him race wheel to wheel without it descending to penalties?

 

[Emlyn_Dewar]

Couldn't watch the race, but wanted to see if it was worth watching a replay. So the rogue 10 vote is not genuine.

It's laughable when Norris tries to downplay how fast the McLaren is. Glad to see Piastri is able to properly use the car. Hope to see him get the WDC this year.

 

[Bounce]

I really don’t know how max got driver of the day he went backwards from his starting position and had penalty for breaking the rules…

 

[Mesai]

I really don’t know how max got driver of the day he went backwards from his starting position and had penalty for breaking the rules…

You get extra fantasy league points if your driver get DotD. Similar to how Lewis got it last race even though he did very little.

 

[cuke2u]

The difference is that Max will drive people off when he hasn’t earned the right to. He does it either when he’s not in front at the apex, or when he is in front at the apex it’s because he has outbraked himself and doesn’t actually make the corner. Piastri was ahead at the apex and made the corner perfectly cleanly, hence the pass was done and should be counted.

Did they even show the Lawson one? I don’t recall seeing it either.

When do we get to see him race wheel to wheel without it descending to penalties?

The first corner event was normal wheel to wheel racing that happens in any genre of motor racing.
Yes I recall the Lawson one being shown..

 

[sidimmu]

The difference is that Max will drive people off when he hasn’t earned the right to. He does it either when he’s not in front at the apex, or when he is in front at the apex it’s because he has outbraked himself and doesn’t actually make the corner. Piastri was ahead at the apex and made the corner perfectly cleanly, hence the pass was done and should be counted.

Tell me you didnt watch the F2 without telling me you didnt watch the F2.

The fact Max got a penalty for driving that was seen throughout the F2 race and across numerous drivers, is pathetic.

 

[cuke2u]

And a special mention to Lmaodo Norris - managing to get schooled twice by Hamilton out of the final corner with his engineer needing to coach him on what to do. Lad is fast but christ sometimes his racecraft is not great

One of those times was caused by hamilton though, he sharply deaccelerated and Norris had to overtake due to his closing speed, or have an accident.