Lando Norris, McLaren (P4): 7/10
Norris needed a better weekend in Saudi Arabia after a bad run of form, and to show Piastri who’s boss. Unfortunately, it was largely not to be for the Briton. A crucial crash in Q3 put him on the back foot, with many noting that the 25-year-old tends to make mistakes under the pressure of a Championship Title fight. Starting the Grand Prix in tenth, Norris opted for an alternate strategy on hard tyres. Once those around him pitted for fresh rubber and he had clear air ahead of him, he started to show amazing pace on his hards and found himself in the lead of the race by lap 30. Of course, Norris had to come into the pits and did so on lap 34. He pushed his medium tyres incredibly hard for the remaining sixteen laps, passing Russell with a handful of laps to go but unable to close in on Leclerc for the podium in time. Clearly he has the speed, he just needs to qualify better. Hopefully the break for Miami will be a much needed reset for Norris.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (P3): 9/10
Leclerc was finally rewarded for his efforts with a first podium of 2025 around the streets of Jeddah. Considering that Ferrari have the third or fourth fastest overall package, the Monegasque displayed amazing speed in both of his stints during the Grand Prix. He extended his first medium tyre stint, going just as fast as those that had pitted for fresh tyres and finding himself in the lead of the race to boot. Leclerc eventually pitted on lap 30 for hard tyres, and was able to push them with 20 laps to go. He was setting fastest lap after fastest lap at one point, caught and passed a struggling Russell and kept a fast-charging Norris behind to claim an unlikely P3.
