Saudi GP race pace analysis: McLaren leads, Charles Leclerc shines with Ferrari’s strategy. McLaren dominates the Saudi GP with Piastri and Norris.

The Jeddah GP brought several interesting themes worthy of technical insight. McLaren confirmed itself as a reference point, both with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris’s impressive recovery. Charles Leclerc showed great pace, supported by an excellent strategy. Mercedes, on the other hand, was underwhelming, proving to be the fourth-fastest team. Let’s dive into the details of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix race analysis.

McLaren a benchmark
McLaren, clearly the favorite, lived up to expectations by winning the race with Oscar Piastri and staging a great comeback with Norris. The Australian driver had an excellent start, beating poleman Max Verstappen by 0.2 seconds to 100 kph and by 0.3 seconds to 200 kph.

This forced the world champion to make a desperate move into Turn 1, which earned him a penalty. From then on, the “papaya” driver ran a waiting game during the first stint, holding back while his rival served the 5-second penalty in the pits, then taking the race lead. From that point on, the win was never in doubt, as his clean-air pace, shown clearly in the data, was out of reach for Max Verstappen.

A positive race for Norris, who salvaged what he could after a major qualifying error, recovering from P10 to the edge of the podium thanks in part to a reverse strategy. Starting on the hard tire allowed him to extend the first stint, and after the pit stops of slower cars ahead, he was able to clock several fast laps in clean air and “overcut” them. Additionally, he fitted fresh medium tires for the final part of the race, enabling a superb pace in pursuit of Charles Leclerc for the podium, which he missed by just one second.

Super Charles Leclerc and excellent Ferrari strategy
A more than positive GP for Charles Leclerc, who delivered a perfect race at the limit of the car’s potential. The Monegasque driver managed the first part of the race excellently and then unleashed impressive pace, perfectly complemented by Ferrari’s strategy. The choice to extend the first stint, thanks to the fast lap times he was posting, allowed Charles Leclerc to build a tyre delta of 9 laps over Russell for the second half of the race. This gave the SF-25—very solid on race pace today—an extra push to overtake Russell and hold off Norris’s late charge, securing the podium.

Also worth noting is the excellent work by Ferrari’s mechanics during the pit stop who, as highlighted in the data, once again confirmed themselves as a benchmark in this area in Jeddah. The podium, clinched by just one second, was therefore the result of perfect synergy between driver, pit wall, and pit crew.

Mercedes the fourth-best team
The disappointment among the top teams was undoubtedly Mercedes, who looked like the fourth-fastest car on track, struggling with the constant lateral accelerations typical of the Jeddah circuit—likely due to a setup not fully optimized for the race. Russell in particular, as shown in the graphics, suffered from significantly higher tire degradation compared to rivals, both in the first stint and especially at the end of the race, when he expressed concern over the radio, even fearing a failure.