Max Verstappen has praised new F1 championship leader Oscar Piastri's rise despite his immediate frustration over their front-row duel at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Four-time and defending world champion Verstappen cursed after stewards sided with winner Piastri over his passing move on turn one and penalised him for his subsequent attempt to regain the advantage.

But he was quick to acknowledge the huge title challenge posed by 24-year-old Piastri, who has now won three of the season's five races in his McLaren, becoming the first Australian to lead the championship since his manager Mark Webber at Red Bull in 2010.

"People forget a little bit that last year was his second year," said Red Bull ace Verstappen, who finished second, 2.8 seconds behind.

"Now he's in his third year and he's very solid. He's very calm in his approach, and I like that. It shows on track. He delivers when he has to, barely makes mistakes -- and that's what you need when you want to fight for a championship.

"And I think with Mark (Webber) by his side, he's helping him a lot. It's great. People learn from their own careers -- that's what I had with my dad, and Mark is advising Oscar.

"At the end of the day, Oscar is using his talent, and that's great to see."

Piastri's teammate Lando Norris was left ruing his crash in qualifying after he started from 10th and finished fourth, yielding the championship lead to the Australian.

Piatri leads on on 99 points, with Norris second on 89 and Vetsappen third on 87.

"We are probably the most consistent team but we are not quicker than the rest," said Norris. "Because of my mistakes like yesterday, I paid the price and I made my life very tough."

"My Sundays I have been pretty happy with, they have been strong. My Sunday pace has been good. I have confidence. The pace is there. I made my life too tough on Saturday.

"I am making myself fight for it, it makes my Sundays more difficult at times. I miss out on the trophies and the apple juice. So I have to work on my Saturdays and if I work on my Saturdays I am pretty confident I can get back to where I was."

- with Reuters