{"id":33480,"date":"2025-04-19T17:24:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T17:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/33480\/"},"modified":"2025-04-19T17:24:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T17:24:15","slug":"oscar-piastri-fires-early-shot-in-mclaren-one-two-as-aussie-chases-a-15-year-first-at-saudi-arabia-gp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/33480\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscar Piastri fires early shot in McLaren one-two as Aussie chases a 15-year first at Saudi Arabia GP"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"mol-bullets-with-font\">\n<li class=\"class\"><strong>Piastri sits second in the driver&#8217;s championship\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"class\"><strong>Has a chance to move to first at Saudi GP\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"class\"><strong>Has shown early form at\u00a0\u00a0the Jeddah Corniche Circuit<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"author-section byline-plain\">By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/profile-144\/josh-alston.html\" class=\"author\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">JOSH ALSTON FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"byline-section\"> Published:  17:59 EDT, 18 April 2025   |  Updated:  17:59 EDT, 18 April 2025   <\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\"><a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/oscar-piastri\/index.html\" id=\"mol-29ee5b70-1c9f-11f0-a4f2-4306ec350b1b\" rel=\"noopener\">Oscar Piastri<\/a> has sent an early message to the Formula One grid, closing in on a historic milestone in a McLaren one-two in the first practice session in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The Australian driver finished second in Friday\u2019s second practice session, just 0.163s behind teammate <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/lando-norris\/index.html\" id=\"mol-29ed7110-1c9f-11f0-a4f2-4306ec350b1b\" rel=\"noopener\">Lando Norris<\/a>, as McLaren topped the timesheets at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Norris, rebounding from a frustrating weekend in Bahrain, was in fine form with a best time of 1:28.267.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The McLaren duo were comfortably ahead of Red Bull\u2019s <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/max-verstappen\/index.html\" id=\"mol-29c94740-1c9f-11f0-a4f2-4306ec350b1b\" rel=\"noopener\">Max Verstappen<\/a>, who placed third and nearly three tenths behind Norris.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Piastri, riding high after his win in Bahrain, is now just three points behind Norris in the championship standings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">If the 24-year-old can continue his current form, he could become the first Australian to lead the F1 championship in 15 years.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-dnt=\"true\" align=\"center\" wp_automatic_readability=\"10.974504249292\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\" xml:lang=\"en\" xml:lang=\"en\">Oscar discussed if mental strength is his strong point: <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think [it\u2019s] one of, hopefully, a few strengths of mine. But it is something [\u2026] I\u2019ve tried to work on. Even after Melbourne, it was painful in the few days afterwards.\u201d<a rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SaudiArabianGP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SaudiArabianGP<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LRvt6i3eXt\">pic.twitter.com\/LRvt6i3eXt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 did oscar score points in f1 today? (@oscarpiastri81) <a rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/oscarpiastri81\/status\/1912972745748717588?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 17, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>     <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-99472df1b6fda0bb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/97446777-14626805-image-a-14_1745013162503.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Piastri finished second behind teammate Lando Norris in the first practice session in Saudi Arabia\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Piastri finished second behind teammate Lando Norris in the first practice session in Saudi Arabia<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-5fcaef2ac358038e\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/97446781-14626805-image-a-15_1745013166165.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Piastri has a chance to move into the championship lead with a win at the Saudi Arabia GP\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Piastri has a chance to move into the championship lead with a win at the Saudi Arabia GP<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The last Aussie to top the standings was Piastri\u2019s manager, Mark Webber, in 2010 during his time at Red Bull.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">\u201cJeddah is a track I really enjoy and have good memories of from past visits,\u201d Piastri said. \u201cI&#8217;m determined to hit the ground running in Saudi.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The Melbourne-born driver already has wins in Shanghai and Bahrain this season and appears more comfortable than ever in the McLaren.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Friday\u2019s session highlighted the growing threat McLaren poses to Red Bull in 2025, particularly on fast circuits like Jeddah.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">While Verstappen sits just eight points back in third, Red Bull continues to struggle with consistency, as seen in Bahrain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Piastri briefly topped the timesheet mid-session before Norris responded with his best lap under the lights.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The Australian clipped the wall during his lap but avoided serious damage, unlike several others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Friday\u2019s running was not without drama, with Yuki Tsunoda crashing heavily in the final 10 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-11dbed47581da256\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/97446785-14626805-image-a-16_1745013171409.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The last Aussie to top the F1 championship was Piastri's manager and former driver Mark Webber\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The last Aussie to top the F1 championship was Piastri&#8217;s manager and former driver Mark Webber<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-2ea5ec9c235193bb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/97446783-14626805-image-a-17_1745013174395.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\" alt=\"It wasn't a perfect practice session for Piastri who will get another chance on the course in today's second practice\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">It wasn&#8217;t a perfect practice session for Piastri who will get another chance on the course in today&#8217;s second practice<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The Japanese driver, in his third race weekend for Red Bull, clipped the inside wall at the final corner and lost control.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">\u201cI just turned in too much and clipped the wall with the inside wheel,\u201d Tsunoda explained. \u201cIt had damage, and after that just no control. Apologies to the team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Despite the crash, Tsunoda still posted the sixth-fastest time of the session, behind Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The incident brought out a red flag, cutting short valuable track time for many teams under floodlit conditions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The session also saw brief drama as Lance Stroll locked up and stopped at Turn 1, triggering a yellow flag.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Meanwhile, Sauber\u2019s Gabriel Bortoleto did not take part in second practice due to a fuel leak discovered before the session.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Ferrari\u2019s Leclerc <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/skybet\/article-13635019\/Charles-Leclerc-Hungarian-Grand-Prix.html\" rel=\"noopener\">finished fourth, half a second off the pace, while teammate Lewis Hamilton had a difficult outing in 13th.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Hamilton is under investigation for allegedly impeding Williams&#8217; Alex Albon during a high-speed section of the circuit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">However, stewards later ruled that no further action would be taken.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Final practice takes place Saturday afternoon, with qualifying scheduled for 6pm local time.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"linkButtonRowItem\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/saudi_arabia\/index.html?ico=article_topics_module\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Saudi Arabia<\/a><a class=\"linkButtonRowItem\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/oscar-piastri\/index.html?ico=article_topics_module\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oscar Piastri<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    Share or comment on this article:<br \/>\n                        Oscar Piastri fires early shot in McLaren one-two as Aussie chases a 15-year first at Saudi Arabia GP<\/p>\n<p>        <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Piastri sits second in the driver&#8217;s championship\u00a0 Has a chance to move to first at Saudi GP\u00a0 Has&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[92,4199,707,4200,19584,1712,6506,93,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-33480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-f1","10":"tag-formula-1","11":"tag-formula1","12":"tag-formulaone","13":"tag-oscar-piastri","14":"tag-saudi-arabia","15":"tag-sport","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114365796550877754","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}