Verstappen wins in Qatar to take title fight to Abu Dhabi

Max Verstappen claimed a crucial victory in the Qatar Grand Prix from Oscar Piastri, with the title battle set to go down to the final round as championship leader Lando Norris could only finish fourth.

Verstappen’s unlikely win was courtesy of McLaren’s alternative strategy which came as a consequence of an early Safety Car intervention and an enforced 25-lap maximum stint length on all Pirelli tyre sets.

The Red Bull driver jumped Norris on the run to the first turn from P3 on the grid and shadowed poleman Piastri in the opening laps before a clash between Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly at Turn 1 several laps later turned the race on its head.

While all drivers pitted for the first of two mandatory pit stops in the 57-lap race, both Piastri and Norris remained out on track, which ultimately put them behind Verstappen in the final order.

Piastri was able to comfortably rejoin in a net-P2 after his final pit stop having shown strong pace out front all race, but Norris was unable to clear the chasing Carlos Sainz and Kimi Antonelli after his pit stop.

The Drivers’ Championship leader passed Antonelli on the penultimate lap as the Mercedes driver ran wide, and means a 22-point margin ahead of the race has been reduced to just 12 points from Verstappen with Piastri 16 adrift ahead of the final race.

Sainz claimed his second podium of the season for Williams, having jumped Antonelli through the opening pit stop phase, while Antonelli ensured Mercedes moved closer to P2 in the Constructors’ Championship with P5.

Behind Antonelli, Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bulls was on course for P6 before a left-front puncture three laps from the end, which promoted George Russell, the Mercedes driver having lost three positions on the opening lap.

The top-10 was completed by Fernando Alonso, via a full 360-degree spin for the Aston Martin driver, Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, the second Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull).

Alex Albon (Williams) was P11 from Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), Gabriel Bortoleto (Kick Sauber) and Franco Colapinto (Alpine).

Esteban Ocon finished P15 as the Haas driver was handed a five-second penalty for a false start, finishing ahead of Gasly. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Hadjar eventually recorded DNFs at the end.

Ollie Bearman retired after serving a 10-second stop/go penalty over his car being in an unsafe condition, while Hulkenberg’s race ended in the gravel after his collision with Gasly.

As the lights went out Norris from P2 suffered the slightly worse start amongst the title challengers, allowing Verstappen to move ahead before the long-right of Turn 1 and slot in behind Piastri, who comfortably held the lead from pole.

The Australian had already broken DRS range by the end of the opening lap and put his head down as the gaps between the leading runners began to expand almost immediately, with following proving extremely difficult through the high-speed corners.

Further back, Russell dropped three places after running slightly wide through Turn 2, as team mate Antonelli, Sainz and Alonso all moved ahead of the Mercedes driver through the opening corners.

Gasly in P9 also ran slightly wide, damaging the underside of his car over the kerb and gravel, and was put under pressure by Hulkenberg, who along with Hamilton were the only drivers to start on Pirelli’s soft tyre.

The German had passed Leclerc into Turn 1 in the opening laps and tried the outside line with Gasly shortly after, but the Sauber driver was left in the gravel on the exit with his right-rear tyre hanging off.

The left-front of the Alpine had made contact with the Sauber, the stewards investigating but taking no further action as Gasly resumed.

The incident brought out the Safety Car just inside the window which would allow drivers to run the remaining 50 laps with just the need for one more pit stop, with a 25-lap limit imposed for all sets of tyres by Pirelli.

Critically, the McLarens of Piastri and Norris stayed out, meaning Verstappen rejoined back in P3 on another set of medium tyres but with effectively one less pit stop to take compared with the two leaders.

Ocon had also initially stayed out but was handed a five-second penalty for a false start and entered the pit lane after the majority of the field and rejoined at the back.

Racing resumed on Lap 11, Piastri leading from Norris and Verstappen, with Sainz having jumped Antonelli in the pits, as Alonso, Hadjar, Russell, Leclerc and Bearman completed the top-10.

The McLarens began to lap more than 1s a lap faster than the rest of the field, all of whom would be required to stop on Lap 32 to make the end on a two-stop strategy.

In turn, the McLarens needed to stop no later than Lap 25, Piastri pitting on lap 24 with a 4s lead over Norris and crucially rejoining in clean air having emerged in front of a large group headed by Alonso in P6.

Norris rejoined even closer to Alonso the next lap, but a 2.2s pit stop proved pivotal as Verstappen now led Sainz, Antonelli, Piastri and Norris.

Piastri soon caught the back of Antonelli and immediately dived up the inside at Turn 1 on the start of Lap 30, but Norris was unable to pass Antonelli at the same spot two laps later.

The McLarens found themselves back at the front as the the majority of the field made the pit lane a hive of activity on Lap 32, with Verstappen rejoining in P3 on the hard tyre but only 7.6 behind Piastri.

Norris ran wide at the high-speed right of Turn 14, running over the kerb and nearly spinning, asking his team over the radio to check for damage as he began to fall into the clutches of Verstappen.

Piastri also had a moment at the same corner as he attempted to build up his margin, with Verstappen starting to get into the dirty air of Norris nearly 8s behind.

Piastri pitted at the end of Lap 42 for a new set of hard tyres, rejoining P3 but now 17s behind Verstappen, who was within 1s of Norris before the Briton also pitted for the hard tyre on Lap 44.

Rejoining behind both Sainz and Antonelli, Norris soon closed on the pair but was unable to shape for a pass until Antonelli suffered a moment of oversteer on the exit of Turn 10 on the penultimate lap which allowed him ahead.

With Verstappen’s seventh Grand Prix win of the season, by a margin of eight seconds, it means the Dutchman sits just 12 points behind Norris, with Piastri a further four points back ahead of the final race in Abu Dhabi.

Sainz claimed his second podium of the season from Norris, while Antonelli finished well clear of Russell, who had benefitted from a late puncture for Hadjar to finish P6.

The top-10 was completed by Alonso, who finished despite a huge 360-degree spin which dropped him behind Hadjar and Russell, as Leclerc, Lawson and Tsunoda all scored points.

The rest of the order was completed by Albon, Hamilton, Bortoleto, Colapinto, Ocon and Gasly, with Stroll, Hadjar, Bearman and Hulkenberg recorded as retirees.

F1 will travel straight to Abu Dhabi for the final race of the season from December 5-7 where the 2025 Drivers’ title will be decided.