Even though Lewis Hamilton won the China Sprint Race, Charles Leclerc gave Ferrari a podium finish in the 2025 Formula 1 Grand Prix at the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday, following five races.
The Monegasque, who excels at street tracks, got just about everything out of a Ferrari that nonetheless performs poorly overall when compared to the leaders. Despite starting in fourth place, Leclerc put on a strong first stint, showing incredible speed on used medium tires. Following the pit stop phase, he passed George Russell to take the podium.
Despite seeing a fast-moving Lando Norris in his mirrors during the final circuits, Leclerc managed to hold off the McLaren and win his first trophy of the year.
Despite this, Leclerc understood that Ferrari needed to improve its qualifying performance in order to increase its chances of competing. The previous four Grands Prix have seen Leclerc finish three to four tenths behind the leader.
Lewis Hamilton's journey to Jeddah was less successful; he had a quiet run to seventh position and found it difficult to get along with the SF-25 for the weekend.
Even if he had a respectable recovery drive on Sunday night, Lando Norris has not had a very successful Middle East F1 doubleheader.
After his mishap in qualifying, Norris began in 10th place and used the alternate tire strategy, starting on hards and then moving to mediums, to move up to fourth place, narrowly missing Leclerc on the qualifying podium.
It was a good enough evening under the circumstances, but he has given up 23 points to colleague Piastri over the last three Sundays and has seen the Australian triumph three times since he won the season opener. To stop his teammate from gaining momentum, Norris needs a big weekend in Miami, where he won his first game a year ago.
The middle group is still hotly contested in 2025, but Williams and Haas are looking more and more likely to battle for fifth place in the rankings with each game that goes by.
Williams hit the sweet spot in Jeddah, as Carlos Sainz brought home teammate Alex Albon with a six-point haul after converting an outstanding sixth into an eighth. Williams' run of points performances came to a calm end, and he was able to move up to fifth position in the standings at the cost of Haas.
The VF-25's high-speed limits were evident, as Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman finished just 13th and 14th, respectively. Despite being better than in Melbourne, the team's performance was insufficient to move them into the lead.