Saudi Arabian GP Recap:

Tricky Night Under the Lights Shouldn’t Darken Positive Start

Mr Consistent

The only driver to finish every Grand Prix and Sprint in the top five this season. George has made a superb start over the first five weekends of the season.

Three podiums in five races is an excellent return, and his tally of 73 points is his best at this stage of a season. His run of top-five finishes stands at 10, longer than his impressive streak at the beginning of 2022, his first full season as a Mercedes works driver.

Fifteen consecutive points-finishes dating back to the second half of 2024 is also the best run of his career to date.

Saturdays have been strong, too. George has only been off the first two rows once in five races, and his current run of 16 consecutive Q3 appearances is the best of anyone on the F1 grid right now.

Kimi Continues to Learn

There will always be question marks over any F1 rookie in their opening few races, but Kimi has already passed so many tests with flying colours in 2025.

From an epic drive through the field in tricky conditions to P4 in Melbourne, to becoming just the third driver since 1965 to score points in his first three Grands Prix, there has been much to celebrate.

That age-defying performance in Australia saw him become the second-youngest points scorer in F1 history, and in Japan a few weeks later, the 18-year-old became the youngest in the sport’s history to lead a lap and set a fastest lap.

Qualifying progression has been the most noticeable – P16 in Melbourne became P8 in China, P6 in Japan, P4 in Bahrain and P5 in Saudi on his first visit to Jeddah in an F1 car. It was also the best performance by a rookie at the track since it joined the F1 calendar in 2021.

Kimi’s F1 journey is still very much in its infancy, and there will be more hurdles to clear in the future. But for now, the roots of progress have been sprouting nicely.

Mercedes Milestones

After five races in 2024, the team had 52 points. One year on at the same stage, and that number is more than double.

111 points is the team’s best return after five Grands Prix since 2021. While the gap to McLaren remains, the step forward the team has taken this year is clear to see.

In the middle of this strong start came a silverware milestone for the Silver Arrows, too. George’s P3 in China was the 300th for a Mercedes works team in F1. A number achieved, in just 322 races.

Our team-mates at Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains in Brixworth have picked up where they left off in 2024, too with four wins from five races.

Teamwork

As ever, so much of the progress witnessed on track is down to the hard work off it. An intense winter back in Brackley undoubtedly helped the team become more competitive on track once the paddock arrived in Melbourne, and that momentum has continued.

Valtteri’s experience has been key in helping Kimi develop, highlighted by some key words of wisdom in Japan – a track the Italian had never driven at before.

The Finn’s knowledge is also proving vital in engineering too – not many other teams can call on a 10-time race winner and five-time Constructors’ champion when digging into the data.

Then there is the simulator work, and that’s where Fred Vesti comes in. The Dane got his first taste of W16 in Bahrain in FP1 and has been a constant source of feedback and expertise since the season begun.

With thousands of kilometres in the sim, the 23-year-old has been hard at work looking to eek out every millisecond of performance with every passing session.

Doriane in the Mix

Junior driver Doriane Pin is well into her second F1 ACADEMY campaign after event two in Saudi Arabia, and the French racer is gearing up for another shot at the title.

A brilliant Feature Race win in China and a P3 in the same race in Saudi Arabia have underlined her championship credentials, as she aims to go one better than last season, come the end of the campaign.

Two P4 finishes in the reverse-grid races in Shanghai and Jeddah leave Doriane second in the standings, five points off early pacesetter Maya Weug.

The season moves on to Miami in two weeks’ time for round three.