McLaren driver Oscar Piastri wins F1's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to take overall lead

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Oscar Piastri has shown he has the pace to fight for the Formula 1 title. In winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday, he showed he can win an argument, too.

For the first time this season, a penalty played a key role in deciding a race win as Piastri went top of the standings with his victory.

Piastri's two earlier wins this season had been dominant drives from pole position. This time he had to get past four-time champion Max Verstappen.

Verstappen started on pole but went off the track when battling for the lead with Piastri at the very first corner. He stayed in front but got a five-second penalty. Piastri argued he had got in front of Verstappen on the inside of the corner and deserved the place.

“Once I got on the inside, I wasn’t coming out of turn one in second," Piastri said.

"I tried my best. Obviously the stewards had to get involved. I thought I was plenty far enough up and that’s what won me the race.”

Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari and Piastri's McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, finished fourth thanks to a smart strategy and overtaking. Norris had started 10th following a crash in qualifying.

It was the second win in a row for Piastri, who took the victory in Bahrain last week and has three wins from five races this year. He'd only won two before this season.

Piastri leads the standings by 10 points from Norris, with Verstappen two points further back in third.

Piastri was three points behind Norris going into Sunday’s race, partly because of a costly spin at his home race in Australia, the first GP of the season.

He becomes the first Australian to lead the F1 standings since Mark Webber — who is now Piastri's manager — in 2010 as a Red Bull driver. No Australian has won the title since Alan Jones in 1980.

Piastri said the penalty was what gave him the win. He had problems keeping up with Verstappen's car before the pit stops without damaging his tires.

Piastri beat Verstappen off the line and was slightly ahead into the first corner, only for Verstappen to run wide across the chicane. Following a crash between Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly seconds later, Piastri and Verstappen argued their cases over the radio while lined up behind the safety car.

Verstappen accused Piastri of forcing him off but the stewards disagreed and gave the Dutch driver a five-second penalty for driving off-track and gaining an advantage. That was “lovely,” Verstappen reacted sarcastically. He had to serve the penalty parked at his pit stop before the crew could touch the car to change tires.

Asked about the incident after the race, Verstappen instead praised the fans and the track and said “the rest is what it is.”

Norris recovered to fourth after starting 10th.

Norris’ strategy was the opposite of most of the field, starting on the slower, longer-lasting hard tires. It meant he briefly led the race after most other drivers had pitted earlier and could have put him in a position to win if there was a incident requiring the safety car or red flag while he was leading.

There nearly was a big crash when Fernando Alonso and Gabriel Bortoleto banged wheels while battling for position near the back of the field. Two-time champion Alonso ran into a runoff area but kept his car under control.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia steers his car during the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrates after winning the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, front, steers his car followed by McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia during the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, front, steers his car followed by McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia during the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, left, steers his car followed by McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia during the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, front, steers his car followed by McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia during the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrates on the podium after winning the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrates after winning the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia, right, celebrates with his team after winning the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrates after winning the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrates after winning the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrates after winning the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia steers his car during the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda of Japan steers his car during the third free practice ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

A mechanic works on the Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso's car during the qualifying session ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Thaier Al-Sudani/Pool Via AP)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the qualifying session ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands thumbs up after setting the pole position in the qualifying session ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Lando Norris' car is carried out of the track after crashing during the qualifying session ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, center, pole position, is flanked by McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia, left, second fastest time and Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, third fastest time after the qualifying session ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, pole position, left, cheers with McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia, second fastest time, after the qualifying session ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Maybe the end for the Florida Panthers came when Brad Marchand was shut down for the season last month. Or maybe it was when Seth Jones broke his collarbone and wound up missing 26 games. Or, maybe it was 20 minutes into training camp, when captain Aleksander Barkov blew out his knee.

Nobody knows when the season was officially doomed.

Doesn't matter now. The Panthers are out.

Games remain, but the Panthers were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday with a 9-4 loss in Pittsburgh. For the first time since 2022, a team other than Florida will represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Final and for the first time since 2023, a team other than the Panthers will be the one hoisting the greatest chalice in sports.

They've known this was coming for a while. It's just official now.

“Obviously, no one’s happy about the situation," Panthers forward Sam Bennett said. "But it’s about really just sticking together as a team and going through this as a team. We're all sticking together. It's not fun sometimes. But we’re just trying to make the best of it.”

By the time the regular season ends in a couple of weeks, the Panthers will have gone well past the 500 man-games-missed mark this season because of injury. Barkov, the captain who Panthers coach Paul Maurice believes is the best player in the world, missed the entire year and a chance to captain Finland at the Milan Cortina Olympics as well.

Jonah Gadjovich will wind up missing 72 games with an upper-body injury. Tomas Nosek missed 60 games with a knee injury. Dmitry Kulikov is nearing 60 games missed, most with a shoulder injury and now a badly broken nose. Matthew Tkachuk missed 47 games while recovering from surgery to repair a sports hernia and torn adductor.

Cole Schwindt missed more than half the season with a pair of injuries. Marchand will miss 29 games and Jones missed 26. Niko Mikkola, Evan Rodrigues, Sam Reinhart, Uvis Balinskis and Anton Lundell were all shut down for the season at least a couple of weeks ago. Aaron Ekblad broke a finger this week and he won't play until next season.

And it was no laughing matter at the time, but Eetu Luostarinen missed nine games — after getting burned while barbecuing.

“I'd say we had some adversity,” Maurice said.

Add it all up, and Florida is likely going to finish the season with no more than eight players who dressed in last year's Cup-clinching win against Edmonton on the ice. The Panthers bent, bent, bent all season, and finally broke.

“They’ve been true to it," Maurice said, speaking of the team's culture. "And we’ve had some tough nights, but the bench has been right and they’re cheering for each other. They’re engaged in the game. They’re talking about the game. It’s just, you’re just not going to be able to produce, not going to be able to execute a whole bunch of things that you normally expect to.”

Put simply, the Panthers might just need a break.

They were in 67 playoff games over the last three seasons, the most in the NHL — and unbelievably, more than 17 other franchises played in that span combined. They've logged tons of miles, taken tons of hits and done it all with very short offseasons because their Cup runs kept stretching into June while non-playoff teams are done in April.

“I think we all know ... how good this hockey team is," Bennett said. “We know how good we're going to be when we have everyone healthy and everyone back. So, there’s obviously a ton of excitement, I think, in anticipation for next year.”

With good reason. Hockey operations president and general manager Bill Zito has had the vast majority of the core under contract for some time: Barkov, Tkachuk, Reinhart, Bennett, Marchand, Carter Verhaeghe, Jones, Ekblad, Gustav Forsling, Lundell, Rodrigues, Mikkola, Kulikov, Balinskis, Reinhardt and Jesper Boqvist are among those who are signed. The biggest question is at goalie, where Sergei Bobrovsky will be a free agent, but one who is believed to want to remain with the Panthers.

All that talk can wait, at least for a couple more weeks.

“We're just focused on this year,” Jones said after the loss Saturday.

Things, if the Panthers are lucky, should look very different next season. Or put another way, things could look like how they were in June 2024 and June 2025, when Florida won the Cup. The celebrations started like this: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman would say a few words, then hand the Cup to Barkov, who would skate away and hoist.

The Panthers felt like that could have happened again this season. For about 20 minutes, anyway. It was at the 20-minute mark of the first full-team training camp practice where Barkov blew out the ACL and MCL in his knee.

“You know right away. Oh, you knew it was bad," Maurice said. “He's a tough one. He doesn’t go down lightly. It was as close to being at a funeral as there can be. The 19th minute, we are humpin', up and down the ice. And I’m taking it all in thinking, ‘Oh, we’re right there. These guys are focused, they’re fit, they’re pushing themselves. I’m not even yelling at them anymore.’ And then that happens.

“The next three days were a prolonged funeral service,” Maurice added. “We didn’t know it was going to be for our season.”

If the Panthers were in the playoff chase, Barkov might be playing now. If there was a Game 1 of Round 1 sometime in the next couple weeks, the expectation is Barkov would have been ready. And now, the Panthers will pivot to Game 1 of next season.

They won't be the defending Cup champions anymore. It might actually rekindle the desire to win it again.

“Bill Zito’s vision for this team has just been so bang on," Maurice said. "We have full faith in the vision that he has for the group, and the core is going to be here next year. We'll all be excited about that.”

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Florida Panthers goaltender Daniil Tarasov (40) defends the goal against Ottawa Senators left wing Fabian Zetterlund (20) during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers goaltender Daniil Tarasov (40) is congratulated after the Panthers defeated the Ottawa Senators in an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk skates on the ice after being named the first star of the game after an NHL hockey game against the Ottawa Senators, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)