A five second time penalty ultimately proved pivotal as Max Verstappen finished second for Red Bull at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Verstappen was handed a penalty for a move to prevent Oscar Piastri taking the lead into turn one at the start of the race, and the penalty ultimately proved decisive, with the Dutchman finishing less than three seconds behind the Australian McLaren driver at the end of the race.
The decisive incident was part of a pivotal first lap for Red Bull, with Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda taken out after a collision with Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.
The result means that, with five races of the 2025 F1 season done, Verstappen dropped a place to third in the Driver’s Championship. The man who has won the last four titles currently sits 12 points behind new leader Piastri, who took the lead in the championship after winning for the third time this season.
Tsunoda has just six points so far in the campaign, with two picked up from his first three races at Red Bull.
In the Constructor’s Championship, Red Bull sit third in the standings, with the Milton Keynes-based team on 89 points. They are 22 points behind second place Mercedes and 99 behind early leaders McLaren.
Red Bull had entered the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix chasing big rewards, with both drivers in the top ten for only the second time this season and Verstappen having delivered a fine qualifying lap to pip Piastri and George Russell to pole position.
When the race began, however, two pivotal incidents that changed Red Bull’s fate took place.
The first saw Verstappen cut turn one after the faster starting Piastri had managed to get inside and to turn one. Red Bull opted not to give the position back, and three laps later, the stewards got involved by handing Verstappen a five second time penalty.
When the penalty was given, it came at the end of a safety car in which a Red Bull driver was involved. Tsunoda and his former Alpha Tauri teammate Gasly were battling when the two made contact going through turn 4.
The duo spun after the contact, putting Gasly’s Alpine into the wall and out on the spot. Tsunoda initially limped back to the pits, but when back in his garage, the Japanese driver’s car was deemed too damaged to continue and he was retired from the race.
Red Bull pitted Verstappen on lap 21, pitting one lap after Piastri. The move meant that Piastri was able to jump Verstappen thanks to the combination of the undercut and the penalty.
While Verstappen was able to keep Piastri honest, he wasn’t able to erode the gap, allowing the Australian to take his second victory in a row and third in the 2025 season so far.
Red Bull will be aiming to go again next time out, when the F1 season resumes in Miami early next month.
MK Dons’ Head Coach Paul Warne was content with his side’s performance as his first game as boss ended as a 0-0 draw with Newport County.
Warne’s first game in charge saw the Dons look likelier to win in a tight contest against the Exiles at Stadium MK, but with no game forthcoming in a tight contest, it meant that the Dons were unable to grab a win on their new bosses’ debut.
Speaking after the game, Warne said that based on a single training session, he felt the players had taken up a lot of his desired instructions for starters.
He said, “I was really pleased with a lot to be fair. We only had the lads in for one day and one training session. We are quite a lot to deal with, me and Rich, and they had a lot of information to take on.
“My teams always play with a real energy, a real athleticism, try to play forward when they can and I don’t know if you notice but try and cross the ball when they can. We try to keep it in there, help the lads with set-pieces and everything.
“For all the information they had to take on, plus the nervous energy for playing for a different manager that’s never nice, I thought the lads done really well. They kept a clean sheet. I thought the only chance we really conceded was a header from a set-piece early on. Apart from that, I don’t think we had a lot to defend.
“I thought the lads gave a good account of themselves really. It’s just disappointing we didn’t get a goal in the second half, which would’ve been the icing on the cake.”
One element that Warne said he would like to improve was chance creation, as he felt that the side could’ve done more to unlock the away defence.
He said, “There wasn’t many chances. There was an intent to cross the ball. I did say to the lads after that we probably didn’t play to the striker’s feet for as much as I’d like.
“We’re not going to come in after one one hour session on a stadium pitch and be absolutely perfect but most of it was pretty good. The finishing edge at the top end of the pitch is the hardest thing, and I thought in fairness as well, don’t get away from the fact Newport defended really well. They always had a threat up top with pace that we dealt with generally ok.
“I like my teams to be aggressive and to play forward when they can. We started the game really well but you can’t keep that intensity for 90 minutes.
“There was a real intent about the play and you could see the lads really wanted to win. I asked them with four games to go to pick up some real points and I leave really pleased.”
Talking about the general philosophy, Warne said he wants to enforce a positivity in his squad in order to booster their forms going into both the final games of the season and the start of the next.
He said, “I want my teams to be fearless and sometimes when you’re not doing well, that’s the hardest thing. It’s difficult to make yourself great when you’re fearful of failure. So we’ll keep reinforcing how great they are and the good things they did and hopefully little by little, we’ll improve.”
Luton Town picked up a huge victory towards their survival hopes as they won a relegation six-pointer 1-0 away at Derby County.
Millenic Alli scored the game’s only goal inside the opening ten minutes to win the day for Matt Bloomfield’s side, with a defensive performance seeing the Hatters keep Derby out to take the points.
A win wasn’t enough to lift Luton out of the relegation zone but with three games to go, they are only inside the dropzone on goal difference after drawing level on points in the table with the Rams. The Hatters remain in contention in a tight scenario at the bottom end of the table, where just 5 points separate Hull in 20th from bottom side Plymouth.
Luton arrived at Pride Park needing a result after losing at home to Blackburn last time out, and with three games against play-off contenders to close their season, it made it vital they could get a win against fellow strugglers Derby County.
The game’s first goal would come Luton’s way as they scored inside ten minutes. A Jordan Clark corner was headed across goal by Carlton Morris to Mark McGuinness, who headed it back across the face of goal for Alli to thump into the back of the net and duly celebrate in front of the adjacent away section with an acrobatic celebration.
Luton would miss decent opportunities to make it 2-0 as the first half continued, with Lamine Fanne missing the target when well placed and Christ Makosso hitting a shot into the side-netting.
Although Derby struggled to create opportunities, the hosts very nearly equalised in added time just before the break, as Jerry Yates’ strike beat Thomas Kaminski only for McGuinness to make a diving block to divert it away from the target.
McGuinness would then make another intervention after the break, with the Irish defender stopping Marcus Harness’ effort from going in.
Luton then survived another Derby attack, as Yates saw a strike saved by Kaminski and Kane Wilson’s follow-up was blocked on the line by McGuinness, who made his third goalline clearance of the game.
Derby continued to push in search of an equaliser, but interventions by Kaminski to deny Kayden Jackson and then Harness kept the Rams attack at bay.
Despite eight minutes of stoppage time, Derby County couldn’t find a way past a valiant Hatters rearguard, allowing Bloomfield’s team to pick up a huge three points.
With Hull, Cardiff and Plymouth all failing to win in later kick-offs, its a result that means Luton’s hopes of avoiding back-to-back relegations are boosted.
Luton will be aiming for back-to-back wins but face a tricky pair of tests in their next assignments as they welcome Bristol City and Coventry sides currently sat in the play-offs to Kenilworth Road in their final two home games of the season.
Northampton Town’s hopes of moving further away from the dropzone were dented after a 2-1 defeat away at promotion hopefuls Charlton Athletic.
Dara Costelloe’s penalty had cancelled out Luke Berry’s early opener in South London, but a second half goal by Matty Godden won the game for a Charlton side that confirmed their play-off place with victory.
For Northampton, a first defeat in three games cuts their advantage over the relegation zone down to 4 points after a Good Friday round of fixtures in which Burton Albion and Bristol Rovers both picked up a point after draws.
With injury, loan ineligibility and suspension hindering Kevin Nolan’s options, a reshuffled Northampton side fell behind inside nine minutes. Berry was first to TJ Eyoma’s partial clearance of a cross and he duly dispatched a finish beyond Lee Burge.
But Northampton would only be behind for six minutes. Charlton defender Tom McIntyre was deemed guilty by the referee of handball in the box, with the ref giving Northampton a penalty that Costelloe duly scored.
An open first half saw neither side grab a third goal in the period. Northampton’s best chance was headed wide by Aaron McGowan, while Godden would see a strike blocked by the Cobblers’ Cameron McGeehan.
Former Charlton winger Tarique Fosu blasted a fine chance off target for the visitors just after the break, before the hosts would miss chances of their own. Berry saw a header go off target before Godden saw a strike smash off the crossbar.
But with just under 20 minutes to go, Charlton re-took the lead. A flick-on by substitute Chuks Aneke released Godden, who was able to place a strike underneath goalkeeper Burge and into the back of the net.
Nolan’s visitors gave it a go late on but an equaliser proved elusive, allowing Charlton to take the points that get them into the play-offs and leave Northampton still sweating on their League One status.
Northampton will be aiming to take a big leap towards securing their League One status on Easter Monday.
They will host bottom side Shrewsbury Town, whose relegation to League Two was confirmed on Good Friday after Burton’s draw in the early kick-off, before they also lost to Wigan Athletic, which would’ve sent them down even if Burton drew. A trip to another side in the bottom 4 then follows with the Cobblers playing Crawley in their final away game.
MK Dons’ first game after appointing Paul Warne as Head Coach saw them draw 0-0 with Newport County.
A tight game at Stadium MK saw two out-of-form sides drift to a stalemate, with neither the Dons nor the Exiles able to breakthrough.
The draw means that both sides are now on a run of six games without a win. MK Dons sit 19th in the League Two table with three games of the season still remaining, with the team 7 points above the relegation zone after Carlisle scored a surprise win over leaders Port Vale.
Warne took charge of an MK Dons game for the first time, with the former Rotherham and Derby boss having been appointed as the permanent successor to Scott Lindsey earlier this week.
His first assignment saw the Dons take on Newport County, with both sides having failed to win any of their last five League Two outings. The Welsh club had scored six against MK Dons when they met in Wales just before Christmas, so the Dons were looking for better things.
One notable absence was Alex Gilbey, with the Dons’ top scorer out through a groin injury expected to keep him out for the last games of the campaign.
The early stages saw a half-chance come for MK Dons, with Luke Offord’s header across goal failing to be turned home in a melee in the box.
A few early free-kicks at either end were negated by fouls in the box or offsides, but as the half progressed, the game began to be a stop-start affair, with neither side able to turn promising play into something more tangible.
Newport’s Cameron Antwi had an opportunity full his way as he cut inside before firing a curling effort that was held by MK Dons goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray.
MacGillivray then did well to reach a pass down the right flank before Michael Spellman, who was being played through by a deep pass down the Newport right.
MK Dons then had positive play. Jack Sanders bundled the ball wide at a free-kick before Connor Lemonheigh-Evans nearly found a breakthrough in unconventional fashion as his angled cross-shot had to be tipped away by Nick Townsend before it could creep into the top corner.
The hosts did suffer a blow, however, as despite wanting to stay on, two knocks left Callum Hendry unable to continue and the striker was taken off.
Spellman had a half-chance when his strike was deflected wide, before Scott Hogan was able to get into a promising position only to pass rather than shoot.
After the break, Sanders had a go when a corner was half-cleared to him and the centre-back’s attempt was held by Townsend.
Townsend would also keep out a low angled strike from Laurence Maguire, in a game that continued to look for someone to take control of proceedings amid the stop-start flow with a lot of fouls being given.
Perhaps the best chance of the second half, maybe even the game, nearly came single-handedly. Lemonheigh-Evans, who was in a blank shirt after an early facial cut, picked the ball up and beat several Newport players to reach the box. After the ball ricocheted back into his path, his lofted show beat Townsend only to glance off the post.
As it was, the game ultimately fizzled out. Jonathan Leko and Danillo Orsi would be frustrated with late half-chances, but that would be it for the Dons as they welcomed their new boss with a scoreless draw.
MK Dons: MacGillivray – Offord, Sanders, Maguire – Tomlinson, Lemonheigh-Evans, Thompson-Sommers, Kelly (Leko 74), O’Reilly (White 45) – Hogan, Hendry (Orsi 31)
Subs not used: Trueman, Nemane, Tripp, Waller
Booked: Thompson-Sommers, Maguire, Lemonheigh-Evans, O’Reilly
Newport: Townsend – Thomas, Clarke (Warner 79), Baker, McLoughlin – Antwi, Brennan, Whitmore (Evans 62) – Spellman (Ajiboye 79), Baker-Richardson (Hudlin 62), Kamwa
Subs not used: Webb, Martin, Patten
Booked: Baker-Richardson, Hudlin
