MOTORSPORTS

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Madrid's Madring Formula 1 circuit can host the best race on the calendar when it debuts next season, according to home driver Carlos Sainz.

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World champion Max Verstappen put Red Bull on pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in track-record time on Saturday as McLaren's Formula One leader Lando Norris hit the wall and qualified 10th. McLaren's Oscar Piastri, bidding to become the first Australian to lead the standings since Mark Webber in 2010, joined the four-time world champion on the front row for Sunday's night race.

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McLaren will leave the all-electric Formula E championship at the end of the 2024-25 season to focus on Formula 1, IndyCar and a new hypercar project from 2027 in the World Endurance Championship.

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Max Verstappen has brushed aside fears of a possible Red Bull exit, saying on Thursday "I'm just focusing on driving". The notion of the four-time world champion walking away from Red Bull was raised by the team's advisor Helmut Marko. Marko told Sky Germany that he had "great concern" Verstappen could find another team unless Red Bull upped their game. He was speaking in the aftermath of a disappointing weekend in Bahrain where Verstappen could only finish sixth, three places ahead of his new teammate Yuki Tsunoda, behind a dominant show by McLaren's Oscar Piastri.

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Formula One rookie Isack Hadjar has two flags in his room, the French tricolore and Algeria's red star and crescent on green and white. Born in Paris to Algerian scientist parents and competing with a French license, the Racing Bulls driver stands out at the top level of the sport for his North African heritage as well as results. "I feel I am representing two countries," the dual-national told Reuters in Saudi Arabia last weekend. "I am the first Arab driver on the planet to make it to Formula 1. It's huge but it went under the radar, no one cares, but it's huge."

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Oscar Piastri will become Australia's first Formula 1 championship leader in 15 years if the McLaren racer wins for the third time this season in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. The 24-year-old, one of four drivers who could end the weekend on top after a tiring 'triple header' run of races on three successive weekends, is the only repeat winner so far in 2025.

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Oscar Piastri secured his third win of the 2025 Formula One season at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, becoming the first Australian to lead the drivers' championship since Mark Webber in 2010. The McLaren driver moved ahead of team-mate Lando Norris in the standings and now holds a ten-point advantage after a commanding performance at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

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Lewis Hamilton sounded more positive about his learning curve at Ferrari after reporting a "night and day" difference in his car's handling in Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix compared to Saturday's qualifying. The seven-time world champion had struck a despondent note after qualifying only ninth with teammate Charles Leclerc promoted to the front row of the grid after Mercedes' George Russell was demoted.