The 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2025) was a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

motor race held on 20 April 2025 at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. It was the fifth round of the 2025 Formula One World Championship.

Max Verstappen Max Emilian Verstappen (; born 30 September 1997) is a Dutch and Belgian racing driver who competes under the Dutch flag in Formula One for Red Bull Racing. Verstappen has won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he w ...

Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing and also known simply as Red Bull or RBR, is a Formula One racing team, List of Formula One constructors#Team's nationality, competing under an Austrian racing licence and based in ...

took

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

for the event, his second of the season, but lost out to Oscar Piastri of

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

in the race, who took his third win of the season and the Championship lead. The podium was completed by Verstappen and

Charles Leclerc Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc (; born 16 October 1997) is a Monégasque racing driver who competes in Formula One for Ferrari. Leclerc was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari, and has won Grands ...

, the latter taking

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

's first podium of the season. Piastri's victory made him the first

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

to lead the Championship since Mark Webber at the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix.

Background

The event was held at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in

for the fifth time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 18–20 April. The Grand Prix was the fifth round of the 2025 Formula One World Championship, and the fifth running of the

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix () is an annual Formula One motor racing event which took place for the first time in 2021. The inaugural edition of the race was held in Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, where it is schedule ...

Championship standings before the race

Going into the event,

Lando Norris Lando Norris (; born 13 November 1999) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for McLaren. Norris was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with McLaren, and has won Formula One Grands Prix, Grands Prix ...

led the Drivers' Championship with 77 points, three points ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri in second, and eight ahead of

in third.

, with 151 points, entered the race as the leader in the Constructors' Championship from Mercedes in second with 93 points, and as third in

with 71 points.

Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as published in the season entry list with one exception.

Yuki Tsunoda is a Japanese racing driver who competes in Formula One for Red Bull Racing. Born in Sagamihara and raised in Tokyo, Tsunoda began competitive kart racing aged nine. Supported by Honda since 2016 through the , Tsunoda graduated to junior formu ...

was in the seat originally held by Liam Lawson before the latter was demoted back to Racing Bulls from the Japanese Grand Prix onward.

Tyre choices

Tyre supplier

Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...

brought the C3, C4, and C5 tyre compounds, designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.

Practice

Three free practice sessions were held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 18 April 2025, at 16:30 local time (

UTC+3 UTC+03:00 is an identifier for a UTC offset, time offset from UTC of +03:00. In areas using this time offset, the time is three hours ahead of the Coordinated Universal Time, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Following the ISO 8601 standard, ...

), and was topped by

Pierre Gasly Pierre Jean-Jacques Gasly (; born 7 February 1996) is a French racing driver who competes in Formula One for Alpine. Gasly won the 2020 Italian Grand Prix with AlphaTauri. Born and raised in Normandy, Gasly began competitive kart racing age ...

of Alpine followed by

and

. The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 20:00 local time, and was topped by Norris ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri and

. The session was red-flagged in the closing stages due to

of Red Bull Racing crashing at turn 27. The third free practice session was held on 19 April 2025, at 16:30 local time, and was topped by Norris ahead of his teammate Piastri and George Russell of Mercedes.

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on 19 April 2025, at 20:00 local time (

), and determined the starting grid order for the race.

Qualifying report

took his second

of the season, breaking the lap record in the process, ahead of Oscar Piastri of

and George Russell of Mercedes. Championship leader and Piastri's teammate

crashed out around turns 4, 5 and 6, leaving him unable to set a time in Q3 and thus qualifying in tenth position.

Qualifying classification

Race

The race was held on 20 April 2025, at 20:00 local time (

), and was run for 50 laps.

Race report

The race was won by Oscar Piastri in the

, followed by

in the

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

, with

in third place in the

. Piastri's win led to him leading the World Driver's Championship for the first time in his career and made him the first Australian to lead the championship since his manager Mark Webber at the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix.

Race classification

Notes * – Liam Lawson finished 11th, but received a ten-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

{{F1GP 2020–29 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Grand Prix