Five events into 2025, Piastri heads the drivers’ title following his third win of the season in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday.
After starting from second, he challenged pole-sitter Max Verstappen at the first corner, the Dutchman cutting the circuit, which earned him a penalty.
That opened the door for Piastri to take the lead during the pit stop cycle, holding it to win by 2.8 seconds after 50 laps of racing.
“It wasn’t the easiest of wins,” he said.
“I think the start was tough, the first stint was tough behind Max.
“Once I had some clean air, it was a bit easier to manage, but I still couldn’t afford to take my foot off the gas.
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“I could control it reasonably well, but it was a little bit tighter than I would have liked.”
Piastri shadowed Verstappen through the opening stint, never more than three seconds adrift of the four-time world champion.
Following his pit stop, the margin remained largely the same, albeit with positions reversed.
Piastri banked his best lap of the race on the final lap, leading to suggestions he had pace in hand if needed.
“I don’t know how long I could’ve done that, but I felt like I was taking decent risks for the race,” he said of his final stint.
“The last lap, obviously, I wanted to see exactly what I had, but there’s not too much point taking a crazy risk as well.
“Once we had some clean air, our pace was okay, but at the end of the Medium stint, I had nothing for Max, and it was a struggle.
“I think the pace wasn’t as much of an advantage as I wanted it to be, but it was good enough.”
Lando Norris finished fourth after starting 10th in the other McLaren, dropping behind his teammate in the drivers’ standings as a result.
Post-race, he suggested Red Bull was the faster car in Jeddah. That’s not a view shared by Piastri, who believes the papaya squad still has the edge, but that it is closer than it appeared.
“I think our car was still quicker,” Piastri insisted.
“It was difficult to be in dirty air. Max was quicker than I expected for sure in the race.
“Over one lap, it wasn’t a huge surprise to see Max quick, but in the race, I wasn’t expecting to struggle so much at the end of the Medium stint, that’s for sure.
“Clearly, we’ve got some work to do,” he added.
“Our car is still very good, but when you look at the layout here compared to Suzuka, it’s the most similar so far, and it’s been the two where Max and Red Bull have been closer.
“We still have an advantage. I don’t think it’s as big on surfaces like this and layouts like this, but we still have a very strong car at the moment.”
On 99 points, Piastri holds a 10-point advantage over Norris at the top of the drivers’ standings, with Verstappen third, just two points further back.
McLaren, meanwhile, holds a commanding position in the constructors’ championship after five rounds with 188 points, 77 clear of Mercedes on 111, while Red Bull sits third on 89 points.
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