Max Verstappen was victorious at the Qatar Grand Prix thanks to Red Bull making the right call on strategy to beat the McLarens and the four-time title winner is still in the championship fight as the battle for the drivers’ standings goes to the season finale.

By winning his 70th career Formula 1 race, Max has closed to within 12 points of Lando Norris in the 2025 title race, as McLaren threw away a potential win thanks to a poor strategy call on a seventh-lap safety car.

Polesitter Oscar Piastri had looked settled in the lead of the race and, owing to the difficulty of overtaking around the Losail circuit, the McLaren driver was in prime position to make good on his track position.

But the race was turned on its head when Nico Hulkenberg clashed with Pierre Gasly, which produced a safety car. As this had occurred on the seventh lap, this was at the point where the drivers could do their two stops and fulfil the maximum 25-lap stint length. All but Piastri and Norris took as an opportunity to call into the pitlane.

This forced both McLaren drivers onto the offensive as they aimed to build a pitstop’s grace over the chasing pack, but the lack of pit call affected the outcome of the team’s race.

Both McLarens cleared the majority of the midfield as a lengthy DRS train – led by Fernando Alonso – by more than the 26-second time loss needed for a pit stop. After Oscar’s lap 24 stop and Lando’s stop on lap 25, it effectively left just Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

The rest of the field had to complete their stops at the end of lap 32. This put Piastri and Norris back into the lead positions, but had to pit again. Although Piastri demonstrated solid pace, Norris was unable to go with him and this allowed Verstappen to close in on the championship leader.

Piastri contended that he could go quicker on a new set of hard tyres, with the intent of putting Verstappen onto the defensive. Indeed, the McLaren driver called in at the end of lap 42, with the hope of setting a string of terrifying lap times to close the Red Bull driver down.

Yet, he could not quite make the difference, and Verstappen was 7.9 seconds clear at the finishing line to take a crucial victory for his championship chances.

Piastri at least kept his own title hopes alive with P2, while Norris was punished for his lack of pace as he was unable to rescue a podium finish – instead, Sainz clinched his second podium of the season with an excellent drive.

The Williams driver had made up a position on Isack Hadjar at the start, and then capitalised on Antonelli’s slow stop during the safety car to move up a further position. Sainz was well clear of Antonelli, who went off track on the penultimate lap to allow Norris to make his way up to fourth.

Antonelli finished 20 seconds clear of George Russell, who dropped to seventh at the start of the race, then lost more places as he was held up double-stacking behind Antonelli in the first stop. However, Alonso made an unforced error and spun to let Isack Hadjar and Russell through, before Hadjar suffered a puncture late on to give Russell a further place.

Alonso recovered from his pirouette to finish seventh ahead of Charles Leclerc, who spent most of his day ensconced in the Alonso-led DRS train behind Russell, while Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda completed the top ten.

The championship has turned upside down following the result at Qatar. Congratulations to Max Verstappen winning the race and is within 12 points of Lando Norris. Why didn’t McLaren pit under the safety car? This mistake was costly in terms of track position for both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Anyway, stranger things has happened in the season finale at Abu Dhabi. Bring it on!

Qatar Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:24:38.241
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +7.995s
3 Carlos Sainz Williams +22.665s
4 Lando Norris McLaren +23.315s
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +28.317s
6 George Russell Mercedes +48.599s
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +54.045s
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +56.785s
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +60.073s
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +61.770s
11 Alexander Albon Williams +66.931s
12 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +77.730s
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +84.812s
14 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1 lap
15 Esteban Ocon Haas +1 lap
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1 lap
Lance Stroll Aston Martin DNF
Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls DNF
Oliver Bearman Haas DNF
Nico Hulkenberg Sauber DNF

Oscar Piastri edged out his McLaren teammate and championship rival Lando Norris to take pole position at the Qatar Grand Prix.

By starting in P1, Oscar has a great chance to score big points to stay in the title chase following his sprint race win. In addition, overtaking is limited around this circuit so track position is important.

Lando Norris had to settle with P2 but this is a Papaya front row. The championship leader is directly behind his teammate and yet ahead of Max Verstappen, the winner of last weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix and another title threat.

The McLarens laid down a significantly gauntlet at the start of Q3, as Norris opened the final stage with a lap of one minute, 19.495 seconds, which shaded Piastri’s one minute, 19.530 seconds opener. This put the Papaya cars around three tenths clear of George Russell after the first efforts, demonstrating their performance difference.

A short wait preceded the final Q3 run with a red flag to remove a sticker at Turn 2, caused by Carlos Sainz as the Williams car peeled off the markings from his garage floor.

On the resumption of the Q3 session, Norris decided to go out earlier – but made a mistake in Turn 2 and did not have the fuel on board to back off and go again. This opened the opportunity to Piastri, who found time on Norris in the opening sector and maintained an advantage to take his first pole since the race at Zandvoort – setting a lap time of one minute, 19.387 seconds.

Max Verstappen found time on his final effort to move his way up to P3, which ensured he was able to jump ahead of Russell. Andrea Kimi Antonelli was just under two tenths behind his teammate to grab fifth.

Isack Hadjar was sixth fastest, having lost a position to Antonelli in the final runs, while Sainz’s sticker issue was not a problem in ending up seventh in the overall order – although Carlos does face an investigation for being released in an unsafe condition.

Sainz joins Fernando Alonso on the fourth row of the grid, while Pierre Gasly outqualified Charles Leclerc – who suffered a high-speed spin after his first effort of Q3.

Nico Hulkenberg’s attempt to break out of Q2 was denied by a late recovery from Leclerc, who moved his way into the top ten late on. The Sauber driver fell just 0.003 seconds of beating Hadjar into P10.

Although Liam Lawson improved on his final effort of Q2, it was only enough for the Racing Bulls driver to jump Ollie Bearman, who had been knocked into the danger zone when Antonelli’s late effort secured the Mercedes path into Q3.

Gabriel Bortoleto moved ahead of Alexander Albon after his final run but could do no better than P14. Albon was unable to exact any meaningful pace in his Q2 lap and, his laps in Q1 and Q2 were both recorded at one minute, 20.629 seconds.

Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda dropped out in the final moments of Q1 when Bortoleto moved his way up into P14 with his final lap of the session. Tsunoda had entered the final five minutes of a closely contested opening stage of qualifying in the drop zone, but got up to a provisional P12 with his final time.

The Red Bull driver, expected to be leave his seat at the end of the year to the impressive Isack Hadjar, was then pulled back to the bottom five when his rivals began to improve.

Esteban Ocon improved on his final lap, but could do no better than P17, while Lewis Hamilton’s miserable weekend continued as he dropped down to P18 in the order.

Lance Stroll and Franco Colapinto are at the back of the grid in Sunday’s race after finishing in the bottom two places of qualifying.

So congratulations to Oscar Piastri with a perfect Saturday work with the sprint win earlier and taking pole for the main race. As overtaking is so limited around this track, starting in P1 will be vital in fighting back in the championship.

Qatar Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:19.387
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:19.495
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:19.651
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:19.662
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:19.846
6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:20.114
7 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:20.287
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:20.418
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:20.477
10 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:20.561
11 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:20.353
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:20.433
13 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:20.438
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:20.534
15 Alexander Albon Williams 1:20.629
16 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:20.761
17 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:20.864
18 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:20.907
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:21.058
20 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:21.137

Oscar Piastri is a winner once again by finishing in P1 in the final sprint race of the season. The McLaren driver took the chequered flag ahead of George Russell, with Lando Norris holding off Max Verstappen to take P3.

The 19-lap sprint at Qatar’s twisty Losail circuit was decided at the start, with polesitter Piastri safeguarding his lead from Russell and Norris, while fourth-placed Fernando Alonso losing out to both Red Bulls of Yuki Tsunoda and Verstappen.

Tsunoda then left the door open for his title contending teammate to take into fourth, as Verstappen set chase on Norris. But the reigning world champion soon started complaining of bouncing and jumping issues, which also affected him in sprint qualifying.

Either way, there was no chance for Verstappen to threaten Norris, as the dirty air on Doha’s motorcycle circuit ensured that cars would all fall away from each other due to the dirty air, and the lack of pitstops ensured they were nearly guaranteed to finish in the positions they held on the opening lap.

The notable exception was Alonso, who made a mistake coming out of the final corner on lap 12 and Andrea Kimi Antonelli went past into Turn 1, taking away sixth position.

Antonelli looked set to be promoted to fifth after a five-second track limits penalty for Tsunoda, but a late track limits penalty for the Mercedes driver reversed that impending position change. Behind seventh-placed Alonso, Williams driver Carlos Sainz claimed the final point in eighth, holding off Isack Hadjar and Alex Albon.

Charles Leclerc lost out by dropping from ninth to P13 early on, while Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton was one of four cars to start from the pitlane and was stuck in P17.

After the sprint race, Norris now leads teammate Piastri by 22 points, with Verstappen 25 points behind. It means that a victory in the main Grand Prix for Norris would secure his maiden world championship.

This sprint event was not the most exciting with the action only happening on the very first lap. With fast, flowing corners and only a single DRS zone, overtaking is going to be tricky. The all-important qualifying is up next and getting a good grid spot will decide the outcome of the main race.

Qatar Grand Prix, sprint race results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 26:51.033
2 George Russell Mercedes +4.951s
3 Lando Norris McLaren +6.279s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull +9.054s
5 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +19.327s
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +21.391s
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +24.556s
8 Carlos Sainz Williams +27.333s
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +28.206s
10 Alexander Albon Williams +28.925s
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +32.966s
12 Oliver Bearman Haas +34.529s
13 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +35.182s
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +36.916s
15 Esteban Ocon Haas +38.838s
16 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +39.638s
17 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +46.171s
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine +69.534s
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +77.960s
20 Franco Colapinto Alpine +80.804s

Oscar Piastri achieved an important sprint pole at Qatar, for the sake of the Formula 1 world championship as his title rivals were only P3 – Lando Norris – and P6 – Max Verstappen.

The McLaren driver set the pace when it mattered most in Friday’s SQ3, by being at the top of the times after both his flying laps, with Oscar’s final benchmark of one minute, 20.055 seconds leaving him just 0.032 seconds clear of George Russell.

Lando Norris, who holds a 24-point lead over Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix, which means he can claim a maiden Formula 1 title this weekend, finished two-tenths further back after running wide at the last corner on his final effort.

Fernando Alonso is P4 for Aston Martin while Yuki Tsunoda has finally out-qualified his Red Bull teammate to P5. Max Verstappen, the defending champion, was complaining of bouncing throughout the sprint qualifying.

Verstappen had been investigated alongside Norris as both were apparently impeding each other at various phases of SQ1 – but no further action was taken from the race stewards.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was pushed down into seventh despite almost falling out of qualifying in the second stage of the session, 0.01 seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz.

Charles Leclerc finished the session ninth ahead of Alex Albon, who ensured that both Williams cars had got into SQ3 despite the team’s expectations to struggle with the range of corners present at the Qatar circuit.

Antonelli had earned a reprieve and an entry into the final part of sprint qualifying when Isack Hadjar had his lap deleted for track limits at Turn 8. The Mercedes driver had not initially done enough on his final lap to progress, but Hadjar lost his P10 lap time after going off.

Ollie Bearman improved on his final lap but was unable to progress beyond P12, while Gabriel Bortoleto out-qualified teammate Nico Hulkenberg. The Saubers will line up in P13 and P14. Esteban Ocon was also eliminated from SQ2 in P15.

Lewis Hamilton is having a tricky time in the Ferrari and was the first big name to drop out in the opening stage of sprint qualifying as he was unable to improve enough in his final lap to progress to SQ2. Hamilton sat in the drop zone ahead of his last effort, and only progressed up to P15 – with drivers lower down the order improving on their final runs.

Antonelli’s subsequent lap put Hamilton back into the bottom five, and improvements from Hadjar, Bearman, and Ocon ensured that Hamilton was pushed further down the order. The late improvement of the Haas drivers and Albon put Lance Stroll and Liam Lawson into the bottom five, ahead of Hamilton.

The Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto will form the bottom end of the grid.

So congratulations to Oscar Piastri with the sprint P1 grid position. This is an important step in terms of fighting back in the championship. Only eight points is on offer in the sprint race but every points counts. It will be fascinating how Lando Norris and Max Verstappen will perform in the final sprint event of the season.

Qatar Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:20.055
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:20.087
3 Lando Norris McLaren 1:20.285
4 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:20.450
5 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:20.519
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:20.528
7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:20.532
8 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:20.542
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:20.622
10 Alexander Albon Williams 1:20.788
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:21.433
12 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:21.494
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:21.567
14 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:21.631
15 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:21.666
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:21.807
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:21.851
18 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:22.043
19 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:22.112
20 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:22.364

Max Verstappen hit the jackpot by winning the Las Vegas Grand Prix and is still in the championship battle following his 69th career Formula 1 win. He finished ahead of Lando Norris and George Russell.

The Red Bull driver made a quick start in which Lando Norris was forced into an aggressive defence into the opening corner, but the McLaren driver outbraked himself in the short run to Turn 1. The reigning world champion pull enough of a gap to lead the race, while Norris ended up losing another position to George Russell, who slipped past Carlos Sainz off the line.

Although Russell put Verstappen under pressure in the early laps, the Red Bull driver resisted the challenge and rebuilt a gap to keep the Mercedes out of DRS range. As such, Russell then began to fall back, providing Norris with an opportunity to upgrade his position.

However, Russell’s undercut strategy to collect the hard tyre means that any Norris challenge would have to wait until after the stops, and briefly offered the Mercedes driver a chance to get closer to Verstappen once the pitstop had played out.

Verstappen emerged from his own stop just over a second clear of Russell and, with fresher tyres, easily drove into the distance. This again left Russell into the pressure of Norris, who cruised past on lap 34 at Turn 14 – the now third-placed Russell admitting that he did not want to take risk and concede a podium finish.

Norris was told to chase after Verstappen, but the four-time world champion was kept informed of the McLaren driver’s renewed challenge and began to turn in a series of quick laps. This ensured that Norris had little chance of reclaiming the lead, and the deal was done when Lando’s pace dropped significantly late on.

A need to save fuel at the end of the race cost Norris around 14 seconds in the final four laps, although his advantage over Russell was enough to keep second at the finishing line. Russell had encountered the same steering issues that he had suffered in qualifying, although protection from a long-stinting Andrea Kimi Antonelli ensured that George faced no further threat to his podium finish.

After starting P17, Antonelli had done 48 laps on the hard tyre having stopped early on to switch to the soft tyres he had started on, but dropped from fourth to fifth due to a five-second penalty – following a jump start by a barely perceptible amount on the grid.

Oscar Piastri thus moved up to fourth to reduce the damage in the championship, although he now sits 30 points behind Norris in the standings, having kept Charles Leclerc while battling behind Antonelli.

Sainz collected seventh, over ten seconds clear of Isack Hadjar as the duo’s impressive qualifying performances were converted into points finishes, while Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton completed the top ten. Hamilton moved up from P19 on the grid, having survived contact with Alex Albon on the lap 13.

So congratulations to Max Verstappen in winning the LAs Vegas race and is still in the championship battle. This latest success means he is now ten points behind Oscar Piastri in the drivers’ standings. As for Lando Norris, he can win the title at next weekend’s Qatar event.

UPDATE: Following post-race checks, McLaren were found to have failed to meet the minimum thickness requirement of the rear skid block. Meaning both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been disqualified from the race results. That promotes a double podium for Mercedes with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli taking P2 and P3. Following the disqualification, Max is now on equal points with Oscar with 366. Just 24 points from championship leader Lando, who has 390 points. The title battle just got tense and interesting!

Las Vegas Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:21:08.429
2 George Russell Mercedes +23.546s
3 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +30.488s
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +30.678s
5 Carlos Sainz Williams +34.924s
6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +45.257s
7 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +51.134s
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +59.369s
9 Esteban Ocon Haas +60.635s
10 Oliver Bearman Haas +70.549s
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +85.308s
12 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +86.974s
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine +91.702s
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1 lap
15 Franco Colapinto Sauber +1 lap
Alexander Albon Williams DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber DNF
Lance Stroll Aston Martin DNF
Lando Norris McLaren +20.741s/DSQ*
Oscar Piastri McLaren +27.650s/DSQ*
*Disqualified for excessive skid block rear

Lando Norris hit the jackpot by taking pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix ahead of his title challenger Max Verstappen.

The McLaren driver has achieved three consecutive pole positions. His lap time ofone minute, 47.934 seconds was nearly three-tenths faster than Verstappen during a qualifying session which remained wet throughout.

Carlos Sainz put in another strong qualifying performance for Williams and finished ahead of George Russell, in which the Mercedes driver having topped both Q1 and Q2 sessions in the worst of the conditions.

Oscar Piastri was left in fifth position having gone into the run-off area at Turn 12 on his final Q3 effort after going wheel-to-wheel with Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bulls.

The second Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson finished in P6, as the top ten was completed by Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, Hadjar, Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, which also ran deep at Turn 12 on his final effort, and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.

Norris picked his way through the Turn 14-15-16 series of corners and went sideways under acceleration, something which cost time but ultimately proved good enough for pole. This was evidently of some surprise to Norris, who figured that someone behind him might be able to find time improvement.

The wet conditions greeted the start of the qualifying session and, although 16 of the 20 drivers attempted to start Q1 on intermediate tyres, these were quickly abandoned for full wets as the circuit offered low grip as the rain continued to fall.

The drivers eventually switched to the intermediates by Q3, as the circuit had slowly dried through the progression of qualifying – but the track remained treacherous despite the formation of a drying line.

Verstappen and Sainz were both half a second clear of George Russell, who could not repeat his pole-winning efforts from last year and ended up in fourth place. However, Sainz will have to answer to the stewards having allegedly rejoined the circuit unsafely in front of Lance Stroll in Q1.

Oscar Piastri was unable to close in on teammate and title rival Norris on his final lap after following Charles Leclerc into the run-off at Turn 12.

Fernando Alonso was a further 0.4 seconds back, and a tenth ahead of Isack Hadjar who, despite flashes of impressive pace throughout the session, could not qualify ahead of Liam Lawson.

Like Piastri, Leclerc was unable to improve on his final effort thanks to his Turn 12 off and only managed to reach ninth, as Pierre Gasly completed the top ten.

Nico Hulkenberg had been eliminated out of qualifying in the final moments of Q2 by Gasly, who was last to cross the timing line to break into the top ten. He will be joined on the sixth row of the grid by Stroll, whose intermediate-tyre gamble did not pay off.

The Aston Martin driver had shown strong pace throughout qualifying, but a swap to the inters after the halfway point of the session did not offer work as the circuit proved to be slow at drying out due the low track temperatures.

Both Haas drivers were knocked out in Q2, following Oliver Bearman’s narrow escape from Q1 after aquaplaning into the Turn 14 wall. Franco Colapinto’s best lap was halted by a wild slide at Turn 15, which the Alpine driver managed to save – but he could not keep himself from finishing the session in P15.

In a Q1 defined by poor visibility, Alex Albon hit the barrier on the exit of Turn 16 in his hopes of making it into Q2, having just set a purple first sector and a competitive middle sector. The Williams driver thus fell at the first segment of qualifying, joined by Andrea Kimi Antonelli who was unable to find enough improvement in his final effort.

Bortoleto and Yuki Tsunoda were also dropped out in a tricky opening stage of qualifying, along with Lewis Hamilton who having apparently picked up a bollard at Turn 14.

So congratulations to Lando Norris in taking an important pole position ahead of his championship rivals. It will be fascinating if McLaren have got good race pace. Bring on the Las Vegas night race.

Las Vegas Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:47.934
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:48.257
3 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:48.296
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:48.803
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:48.961
6 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:49.062
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:49.466
8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:49.554
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:49.872
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:51.540
11 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:52.781
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:52.850
13 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:52.987
14 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:53.094
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:53.683
16 Alexander Albon Williams 1:56.220
17 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:56.314
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:56.674
19 Yuki Tsuonda Red Bull 1:56.798
20 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:57.115

Lando Norris achieved a perfect Interlagos weekend with sprint pole, sprint win, pole position for the main race and the Sao Paulo Grand Prix victory. By scoring the maximum 33 points with this sprint format, Lando extends his points lead in the championship and looking the favourite to win the drivers’ title.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished an impressive P2 for Mercedes, surviving a late race attack from Max Verstappen, who drove an incredible race after starting in the pitlane to finish on the podium for Red Bull.

As for Oscar Piastri, he received a ten-second penalty for causing a collision with Antonelli which knocked out Leclerc from the race. The McaLren driver only managed fifth.

Norris dominated a dry Interlagos race from pole, while behind him Verstappen marched from a pitlane start to third as Lando’s other title rival Piastri suffered his latest setback.

Norris led the start from Antonelli, Charles Leclerc and Piastri – the championship leader having started on the medium tyre while Antonelli opted for softs.

The race was neutralised after two laps for a crash by Gabriel Bortoleto, who was taken off the track at Turn 7 by Lance Stroll. After clipping the Aston Martin’s left-rear wheel, the Sauber veered into the wall at slow speed, enough to damage the suspension.

In the background there was also contact between Lewis Hamilton and Franco Colapinto on the main straight, as Hamilton appeared to misjudge an overtake and clipped his front wing off against the rear of the Alpine, forcing him to pit for a new nose and landing him a five-second penalty. It was an action-packed start to the race for Hamilton, who had already traded a blow with Carlos Sainz in Turn 1.

There was more drama on the lap six restart when fourth-placed Piastri went down the inside of Antonelli and Leclerc to make it three-wide into Turn 1. With Antonelli having nowhere to go in the middle, he and Piastri made contact, punting the Mercedes into the path of Leclerc.

The Ferrari driver came off worst suffering big damage, which brought out a virtual safety car. Meanwhile, pitlane starter Verstappen got up to P13 after the restart but used the following VSC period to change to the mediums due to a front-right puncture.

As the VSC was lifted on the start of lap nine, Piastri chased after Norris for the lead while stewards looked at the three-way incident, handing the McLaren driver a 10-second penalty for triggering the melee.

Norris soon restored a comfortable gap as he continued his superb form, and with Piastri out of the way the nearest competitors were Antonelli, who had escaped damage from the aforementioned contact, and the other Mercedes of George Russell.

They were eventually joined by Verstappen, who had lost ground due to his early VSC pitstop, but deployed much improved pace compared to Saturday thanks to his parc ferme set-up changes. Having gotten rid of his soft tyres early on, the defending champion cleared the entire midfield on his next two medium-tyred stints.

Verstappen’s impressive charge was such that Norris emerged behind him after both of his pitstops, but the Red Bull driver eventually converted to a three-stopper that left him a net fourth, 14 seconds adrift of Norris, and also behind Mercedes duo Antonelli and Russell.

On his newer softs Verstappen was the fastest driver on the track once more and quickly closed the gap to third-placed Russell, passing Russell into Turn 1 on lap 63 of 71. Verstappen then chased Antonelli for second, but just ran out of laps to take P2 from the rookie.

Norris achieved to his seventh Grand Prix win of the season with a 10-second margin on Antonelli, who recorded his best-ever Formula 1 finish in second. Verstappen completed his frantic comeback race with a hard-earned third to retain an outside chance of a fifth world title.

In contrast to the Red Bull driver’s impressive comeback, Piastri was in a tricky situation given his 10-second penalty. In theory, his best option would have been a one-stop to reduce the damage, but with Pirelli’s harder C2 tyre not looking very competitive, medium starter Piastri had to be put on the soft tyres with 31 laps remaining and then needed a second stop to get back onto the mediums with 20 laps to go.

Piastri then cleared midfield leader Oliver Bearman in the Haas for fifth, but the McLaren driver could not avoid falling behind title rival Verstappen and the Mercedes cars and stayed there until the finish.

Courtesy of another rapid race with bold overtakes, Bearman took home sixth on another big day for Haas in the constructors’ standings.

A one-stopping Liam Lawson held on for seventh despite his pace dropping off severely towards the end. Lawson’s strategy did help him stay ahead of Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, with a determined Pierre Gasly taking a point for struggling Alpine.

As part of a long DRS train of midfield cars, Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon narrowly missed out on a points finish.

In the background Hamilton eventually retired with suspected floor damage from his early incident with Colapinto, completing an awful day for the Scuderia with two DNFs.

In the championship Norris now leads Piastri by 24 points with three rounds remaining, with Verstappen now 49 points behind.

Ferrari’s non-score meant Mercedes reinforced its second place in the constructors’ standings.

So the perfect weekend for Lando Norris by being the quickest and successful. The McLaren driver is looking the favourite to win the championship now in the dominant MCL39.

As for Max Verstappen, what a comeback performance from the pitlane to get P3. The Red Bull car was tricky to drive but he managed to drag that RB21 to a points finish.

Sao Paulo Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:32:01.596
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +10.388s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull +10.750s
4 George Russell Mercedes +15.267s
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren +15.749s
6 Oliver Bearman Haas +29.630s
7 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +52.642s
8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +52.873s
9 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +53.324s
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine +53.914s
11 Alexander Albon Williams +54.184s
12 Esteban Ocon Haas +54.696s
13 Carlos Sainz Williams +55.420s
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +55.766s
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine +57.777s
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +58.247s
17 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +69.176s
Lewis Hamilton Ferrari DNF
Charles Leclerc Ferrari DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber DNF

Lando Norris is looking extremely confident compared to his championship rivals by taking pole position at Interlagos, as Oscar Piastri had to settle with P4 while Max Verstappen suffered with a lack of grip and is only P16.

While Piastri was able to bounce back from his sprint crash to go take provisional pole in Q3, the McLaren driver was unable to resist his teammate’s super pace and will line up on the second row with P4.

Following his positive sprint result with P2, Andrea Kimi Antonelli repeated the performance by taking a front row slot for Mercedes in qualifying. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc found some pace to take P3 for the Scuderia, one position clear of Oscar Piastri.

After making a mistake on his first Q3 flyer with a lock-up in Turn 1, Norris pieced together a much-improved lap to go to the top with one minute, 09.511 seconds lap.

That proved nearly two tenths faster than Mercedes driver Antonelli in a session decided by tiny margins, with Ferrari’s Leclerc third.

Piastri led the first runs in Q3 with one minute, 09.897 seconds lap, just 0.002 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Leclerc.

But the McLaren driver, who tried to bounce back from crashing out of Saturday morning’s sprint race, could only find a couple of thousandths on his second effort and dropped to fourth on the grid.

Oliver Bearman initially looked like the star of qualifying after looking in contention for pole early on, but ultimately it was fellow rookie Isack Hadjar by qualifying in an outstanding fifth ahead of George Russell, who was confused by balance issues on his Mercedes.

Hadjar’s Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson also enjoyed a strong session in seventh, sharing the fourth row with Bearman after the pair tangled in the sprint race.

Pierre Gasly was an solid ninth for Alpine as the Enstoney-based outfit proved more competitive in Brazil, with Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top ten for Sauber.

Norris also topped Q2 with one minute, 09.616 seconds ahead of a surprising Bearman, while the Ferraris soon came under pressure in the middle of an extremely compact field.

After suffering a big moment on his first attempt Leclerc was on the outside looking in, but he recovered to advance to Q3. The same could not be said from Lewis Hamilton, who had been on the edge and missed the cut by a tenth in P13.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso could not improve on his final attempt and was eliminated in P11 by a tiny 0.016 seconds margin. Underlining just how close the margins were, Alonso missed the cut despite being just a quarter of a second slower than Bearman in second.

Alonso was followed out by Alex Albon. Behind Hamilton in P13, Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz were also knocked out in Q2.

Norris also swept the first qualifying segment ahead of Gasly, Bearman and Piastri, with one minute, 09.656 seconds lap.

But while the McLarens were safely through, their outside title rival Max Verstappen soon found himself in big trouble.

Red Bull’s significant post-sprint set-up changes to answer the RB21’s handling problems appeared to not to be working, as Verstappen set two poor laps on the same set of softs which left the reigning world champion in the drop zone with five minutes to go.

Verstappen found nearly three tenths on his final attempt, but so did the cars around him, leaving the four-time champion a shocking P16, a tenth from safety and a massive eight tenths behind leader Norris.

Verstappen was followed out by Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto, who tried to rally from a heavy sprint race crash in a spare chassis. Yuki Tsunoda was also eliminated in P19, meaning Red Bull suffered their first double Q1 exit since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix.

There was huge disappointment for the home fans as Gabriel Bortoleto, unable to make qualifying following his massive sprint race shunt. The Sauber mechanics kept working on his car until the very last second, but were unable to send the driver out in time.

So advantage Lando Norris with pole position. He looks like the championship favourite now, with so much confidence and speed. To be several places ahead of his title rivals in this qualifying session, he looks likely to score a race win in Interlagos. Will be fascinating if Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen can make a recovery.

Sao Paulo Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:09.511
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:09.685
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:09.805
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:09.886
5 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:09.931
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:09.942
7 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:09.962
8 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:09.977
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:10.002
10 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:10.039
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:10.001
12 Alexander Albon Williams 1:10.053
13 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:10.100
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:10.161
15 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:10.472
16 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:10.403
17 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:10.438
18 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:10.632
19 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:10.711
20 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber No time

Lando Norris extended his championship lead to nine points following the Sao Paulo sprint win as his McLaren teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri crashing out.

Norris started Saturday morning’s 24-lap race from pole, with the Sao Paulo circuit still damp in places following overnight showers. The medium-shod McLaren driver held the lead from soft tyre starter Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri, who had also opted for mediums.

But Piastri crashed out of third on lap 6 after slipping on Turn 3’s wet inside kerbs, going into the outside wall. Behind the McLaren driver, Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto followed his example with nearly identical spins, with Hulkenberg escaping with minor repairs to his Sauber while Colapinto’s heavy smash in the Alpine brought out the red flag for barrier repairs.

Norris controlled his lead on a rolling lap 9 restart, while behind him George Russell briefly snatched second away from Mercedes teammate Antonelli, before the rookie attacked into Turn 4.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen managed to hold off Fernando Alonso for fourth, after having passed the Aston Martin driver at the start of the sprint – Alonso was unable to make his restart choice for the soft tyres pay off against the Red Bull on mediums.

But Verstappen, who had complained of his car’s lack of grip throughout Friday, found similar struggles to get his RB21 to turn in, leading to a tense exchange between the four-time champion and his race engineer.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton followed in sixth and seventh, with Hamilton having won several positions off the start after only qualifying in P11.

At the front, Norris initially maintained easy control until he started losing the benefit of his fading soft tyres, with Antonelli’s longer-lasting mediums allowing him to get within DRS range.

Following a poor lap from the leader, lap 21 of 24 was the first opportunity for Antonelli to start challenging around Lando’s gearbox. But that was about as close as the Mercedes driver would get, with Norris hanging on to his first sprint win of the season.

Russell was third behind Antonelli, followed by a frustrated Verstappen. On lap 22, Leclerc gained on a slide from Alonso to move past the Aston Martin driver for fifth, ten seconds behind Verstappen, with Hamilton seventh.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took the final points place from Lance Stroll late on.

Lando’s eight points for the sprint win and Oscar’s non-score means he extends the drivers’ championship lead from one to nine points ahead of Saturday afternoon’s main qualifying session. Verstappen now trails Norris by 39 points in third.

Starting the final lap, home hero Gabriel Bortoleto crashed out to follow Piastri and Colapinto into retirement, the Sauber dramatically spinning out under braking for Turn 1 and almost collecting Alex Albon.

So an important sprint win for Lando Norris. Nine points is significant and it will be fascinating if Oscar Piastri can bounce back from this disappointment to get a good grid slot for the main qualifying.

Sao Paulo Grand Prix, sprint results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 53:25.928
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.845s
3 George Russell Mercedes +1.473s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull +2.105s
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +12.060s
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +18.306s
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +18.603s
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine +19.366s
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +23.933s
10 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +29.548s
11 Esteban Ocon Haas +31.000s
12 Oliver Bearman Haas +31.334s
13 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +38.090s
14 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +38.462s
15 Carlos Sainz Williams +38.951s
16 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +42.349s
17 Alexander Albon Williams +55.456s
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber DNF
Oscar Piastri McLaren DNF
Franco Colapinto Alpine DNF

New championship points leader Lando Norris achieved his first sprint pole of the season at Interlagos, edging out Andrea Kimi Antonelli from Mercedes and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.

Norris was supreme on both of his SQ3 laps to fend off a strong effort from Mercedes Antonelli, who split the two championship contending, as Verstappen struggled for grip in his Red Bull.

Norris took provisional pole on his first SQ3 lap from both Mercedes cars and Piastri, with the McLaren driver’s one minute, 09.271 seconds the target lap to beat.

Norris and Piastri then stayed out for two cooldown laps before launching again on the same set of softs, while Russell, Antonelli followed a similar strategy with one cooldown lap.

Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso, who had surprisingly led SQ2, were among the five cars deciding to bank everything on a single flying lap instead.

But as it happened, both McLaren drivers found more pace on their second attempt, with Norris laying down a marker with one minute, 09.243 seconds. That was one tenth quicker than Antonelli, who managed to edge out Piastri as he only marginally improved as well.

George Russell was fourth in the other Mercedes, while Alonso held off a puzzled Verstappen for fifth.

Lance Stroll was seventh on a strong day for Aston Martin, ahead of Charles Leclerc, with Isack Hadjar and Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top ten.

Alonso had already played a starring role in SQ2 by leading the first set of runs from Norris, Piastri and Russell. The two-time world champion’s one minute, 09.330 seconds would stay on top until the end as few drivers found improvements on their second flying lap on the same set of medium tyres, which are mandatory in the first two sprint qualifying segments.

Hamilton was on the outside looking in by only going P11, largely due to a lock-up, while Ferrari teammate Leclerc not particularly safe in ninth. Even world champion Verstappen was under pressure in eighth, just one tenth removed from the drop zone, as he called his Red Bull car “completely broken”.

On the second run none of the three drivers improved, with Hamilton not even making it across the line in time due to yellow flags as he was dropped out in P11. But Verstappen and a spinning Leclerc were handed a reprieve when none of their rivals improved substantially either.

Albon and Gasly missed a chance to advance to SQ3, lining up behind Hamilton in P12 and P13. Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto also could not make the top ten on his home debut, taking P14 ahead of Haas driver Oliver Bearman.

In SQ1 Norris convincingly set the fastest time – one minute, 09.627 seconds on mediums – three tenths ahead of Verstappen and Piastri.

Franco Colapinto could not celebrate the confirmation of his 2026 Alpine contract with an SQ2 spot, being knocked out at the last second by Stroll.

Colapinto was P16 ahead of Liam Lawson, a disappointing Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon. Sainz was eliminated and is P20 after locking up his front left wheel into Turn 1, labelling Williams’ qualifying effort “the worst execution ever”.

So congratulations to Lando Norris in achieving his front sprint pole this season. By starting from the top end of the grid compared to his title rivals, this is advantage moment for Norris to score more important points.

Sao Paulo Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:09.243
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:09.340
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:09.428
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:09.495
5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:09.496
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:09.580
7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:09.671
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:09.725
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:09.775
10 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:09.935
11 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:09.811
12 Alexander Albon Williams 1:09.813
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:09.852
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:09.923
15 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:09.946
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:10.441
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:10.666
18 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:10.692
19 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:10.872
20 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:11.120