This weekend, the Formula 1 circus moves to Saudi Arabia at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the fifth round of the 2025 championship.
A mixed start to the season for all drivers has allowed Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to stick at the top of the standings, closely followed by Max Verstappen and George Russell.
This track offers unique challenges to the drivers as it's the fastest street circuit in the world and confidence is key in attacking the long sweeping turns.
The Jeddah Corniche Circuit was first on the F1 calendar in 2021 in a dramatic clash between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen's lap in qualifying may go down as the best one that never happened, as he crashed in the final turn.
2025 is shaping up to be an incredible season, and this race could show off which driver is most in tune with their car.
Talking Points
Norris' struggle with McLaren
Lando Norris has admitted that he's not gelling with this car as much as he'd hoped. The British driver was poised as the main threat to Max Verstappen before the start of the season, but he may relinquish that to Oscar Piastri soon.
Oscar, although on less points, has had a much stronger and quieter start to the season, but he now comes into Saudi almost level ono points with his teammate.
This could mean that the tide is turning - in Drive to Survive, team CEO Zak Brown mentioned that we're heading into the 'Norris era', although this start to the season has not been ideal to follow that statement.
If Norris keeps complaining about the car, the team might as well prioritise Piastri in future races as they may feel more confident in his judgement of the car.
This was the problem last year - both drivers were taking points off each other to help Verstappen win the title in the end. The Papaya team need to set clear expectations for both their drivers.
Trouble in Verstappen camp
There were reports after Bahrain that there were altercations in the Verstappen garage with senior figures at the team.
The Dutchman finished sixth in the race, complaining tirelessly of issues with his Red Bull. His teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, only just scraped into the points.
Allegedly, there were meetings between Christian Horner, Helmut Marko and Jos Verstappen to discuss the future of the team after a sluggish start to the season (the exception being Max's brilliant win in Suzuka).
This has caused rumours to spread around the paddock, as a Verstappen move could cause a domino effect of the silly season starting early.
He has been linked to seats at Mercedes and Aston Martin, the latter of which has reportedly offered $30 million to the World Champion. They also now have the might of Adrian Newey to leverage in deals.
All parties involved are trying to keep it quiet, but the rumour mill is in full swing so watch out for potential moves.
Who to watch
Pierre Gasly has had a brilliant start to the weekend, toping the times in Free Practice 2 this weekend. I'd bank on him in your F1 Fantasy to do well.
His Alpine team are using last year's chassis so he'll have slightly more touch as to what the car is doing, important around a circuit like his one.
Oscar Piastri will also be strong, not giving much away as to what he thinks of his new Mclaren car. He seems to be more in tune with it than his teammate.
Race details
The Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2025 starts at 8pm local time on the 20th of April.
This is 6pm in the UK and it'll be streamed on Sky Sports F1. Check local broadcasters for coverage.
