2025 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Highlights

The 2025 Saudi Arabian GP proved to be a demanding test for the team, but George Russell and Kimi Antonelli delivered a double-points finish, crossing the line in P5 and P6, respectively.

Both drivers started strong, with George lining up P3 and Kimi P5, running the optimal Medium-Hard one-stop strategy. They maintained their positions early on, but it soon became clear that tyre overheating would be the story of the night.

On an offset Hard-Medium strategy, Lando Norris managed to overtake Kimi just before the pit window. Kimi boxed on lap 19, with George following on lap 20, covering off an undercut attempt from Charles Leclerc. However, Ferrari’s decision to extend Leclerc’s Medium stint gave him a significant tyre-age advantage. Once he switched to Hards, there was little George could do to hold back the charge from either Leclerc or Norris.

George brought the car home in P5, extracting the maximum possible on a day where outright pace wasn’t in the car. Kimi, meanwhile, delivered a composed second stint and held off a hard-charging Lewis Hamilton to secure P6 — a mature drive under pressure.

Despite the tyre issues, the team leaves Jeddah on a positive trajectory. With 111 points in the Constructors’ Championship, we’ve more than doubled our tally compared to this stage in 2024 (52 points after five rounds). 💪

Next up: Miami. 🌴 Back to base for two weeks of analysis, recovery, and upgrades.

George Russell, Driver, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team

Tonight was all about managing tyres, and unfortunately, ours were suffering from overheating. I tried to hang with Max in the second stint, but it was about survival once the tyres dropped off. P5 was the most we could do today. We’ll take the lessons and come back stronger.

Kimi Antonelli, Driver, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team

A tough but rewarding race. I struggled with understeer early on, but the Hard tyre brought better pace. I’m happy with P6, especially holding off Lewis at the end. Lots learned again today — now time to reset and focus on Miami.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

That was our weakest performance this season. We were aiming for the podium, but overheating tyres held us back. Still, both drivers delivered under pressure, and we’ve kept our position in the championship battle. We’ll work hard to ensure we’re more competitive in Miami — another high-temp circuit.

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