Oscar Piastri took the lead in the Formula 1 driver standings Sunday after he beat four-time world champion Max Verstappen in an intense race in Saudi Arabia.

The win puts Piastri, 24, of Australian, on 99 points, leapfrogging fellow McLaren driver Lando Norris, who is now 10 points behind in second place. Verstappen, who drives for Red Bull Racing, is two more points behind in third place.

It is shaping up to be a close and exciting championship battle, as the racing returns to the United States in two weeks for a Grand Prix weekend in Miami. It is shaping up to be Verstappen’s most challenging title defense since he won his first trophy in 2021.

And Norris, who started the season as the betting-odds favorite to win the championship, has his work cut out for him as he admits he doesn’t feel in sync with the evolving McLaren car.

The race start Sunday proved crucial to the outcome. Verstappen started on pole position ahead of Piastri, but Piastri got a better launch and pulled alongside Verstappen on the inside into the first corner, prompting him to cut the chicane and keep the position. He was handed a 5-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, which is forbidden.

“Well done everyone! It was a little bit more difficult at the start than I had hoped for. But yeah, very, very well done. The car was great,” Piastri said on team radio after he took the checkered flag. “Massive three weeks. And let’s keep it going.”

In the postrace news conference, Piastri said leading the championship doesn’t change anything for him. “Still want to go out and try to win every race I can,” he said. “I’m not that bothered by the fact that I’m leading the championship, but I’m proud of the work and the reasons behind why we’re leading the championship.”

“Ultimately I want to be leading it after round 24, not round 5,” he said.

Verstappen finished in second place, less than 3 seconds behind Piastri. Completing the podium was Charles Leclerc, giving Ferrari its first podium finish in the five grand prix in 2025.

Piastri has been the breakout star of 2025 in just his third season in the sport, winning three of the five races so far as Norris and Verstappen have each won one race. It the first time this season that the pole-sitter didn’t win the race.

In the postrace interview, Verstappen declined to discuss the first-corner incident and said he looks forward to racing in the United States next.

“I’m going to keep it quite short. I just want to say a big thank you to the fans here in Jeddah,” he said. “It’s been a great weekend. I love the track. And the rest is what it is. I’m looking forward to Miami.

Verstappen said later in the news conference that he was “positively surprised with my pace,” but he repeatedly refused to discuss the penalty and whether it cost him the victory. “The start happened, turn 1 happened, and suddenly it was lap 50,” he deadpanned.

Norris endured a forgettable weekend, reflecting the inconsistency of his 2025 season. After having set the pace in the practice sessions and topped the earlier part of qualifying, he made a small but costly error and crashed on a hot lap, forcing him to start at 10th place. He fought his way back to fourth place Sunday.

The track in Jeddah is one of the fastest and most physically demanding on the F1 calendar.

Asked to describe his emotions after the race, the famously stoic Piastri quipped, “Looking for a couch.”