Oscar Piastri has come away from the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with a solid haul of FIA Formula 1 World Championship points after finishing fourth on the streets of Jeddah overnight.
 
Having started from fifth after out-qualifying McLaren teammate Lando Norris, Piastri produced an impressive drive during the 50-lap affair, which saw Max Verstappen claim a second consecutive victory over Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc.
 
The young Australian enjoyed a strong start off the line as he built up space between him and Norris and piled on the pressure on Fernando Alonso before making a brilliant move on the Aston Martin driver after just two laps.
 
Following a flurry of pit stops on lap 10 because of a Lance Stroll crash, Piastri dropped down the order behind Norris and Lewis Hamilton, who opted to stay out and maintain track position.
 
Piastri then found himself stuck behind the Mercedes driver for a large portion of the race, despite coming close to overtaking him on multiple occasions, eventually regaining fourth place once Norris and Hamilton finally took their pit stops.
 
The 22-year-old then retained his position for the rest of the race and reached the chequered flag three seconds ahead of the fifth placed Alonso.

 
"I think that’s (fourth place) definitely the most we could have got out of that race, and we executed it well," Piastri said.

"t was a bit frustrating being stuck behind Lewis Hamilton for so long, but I think that was the most amount of points we could have got this weekend, so, I’m very happy.

"I can’t wait to go to Melbourne next for my home race, I'm really looking forward to racing at my local circuit in front of the Aussie fans.”

As a result of his finish, Piastri has moved up the standings to fifth overall, while also helping McLaren jump Mercedes to third place on the Constructors’ Championship standings.
 
Lower down the order, Daniel Ricciardo had a more frustrating night behind the wheel as he lost places early in the race and limped home in 16th after an overall quiet race – two spots lower than when he started.
 
The FIA Formula 1 World Championship now has the week off before arriving in Melbourne for the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix on 21-24 March.