
Oscar Piastri received a surprise endorsement from Max Verstappen following the Australian’s win in Saudi Arabia. And world champion Verstappen knows he is in a fight to retain the title he has held for the past four seasons after Piastri won his third race of the season.
Piastri, 24, now leads the championship by 10 points from his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, who had started the season as the favourite to take Verstappen’s crown. But now it is the softly-spoken Aussie who looks likeliest to inherit the title.