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
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).
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/verstappen-wins-qatar-gp-as-title-battle-goes-to-abu-dhabi-with-piastri.5KlYT7q8OcrJ7AnMALjkxJ
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says his squad “didn’t expect” everyone else to pit under an early safety car as it lost a likely Qatar Grand Prix win to Max Verstappen and Red Bull, and handed the Dutchman a lifeline for a fifth Formula 1 world title.
McLaren’s polesitter Oscar Piastri was leading the race from Verstappen and Lando Norris when a collision between Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly caused an early safety car.
It gave the field an opportunity to pit by lap 7 and with it a chance for everyone to make it to the end on one more pitstop, with Pirelli having mandated a maximum tyre stint of 25-laps due to puncture concerns.
But while Verstappen and nearly the entire train of cars behind him pitted, Piastri and Norris both stayed out, gifting the Red Bull man a pitstop worth around 26 seconds at the cost of just a single spot on track, with Verstappen taking the restart in third.
McLaren did prove faster than Verstappen, but not by nearly enough to undo its strategy mistake, with Verstappen easily cruising to his 70th grand prix win. Piastri was second while Norris only managed fourth, meaning the latter will now go to Abu Dhabi with just a 12-point lead on Verstappen.
Explaining the decision not to pit under the safety car, Stella told Sky: “We didn’t expect everyone else to pit. Obviously if everyone else behind you pits, then it makes pitting definitely the right thing to do.
“When you are the lead car, you don’t know exactly what the others are going to do. There could have been a loss for Lando in case we were pitting both cars with the double stack. But effectively the main reason was related to not expecting everyone else to pit. So, it was a decision but as a matter of fact, it wasn’t the correct decision.
“Definitely not the outcome we wanted and something to review. As usual, we will learn from racing and we will get stronger for the next event, which obviously becomes now decisive and even more important.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mclaren-didnt-expect-rivals-to-pit-in-qatar-f1-strategy-error/10781272/
Lando Norris says he will take what happened during his disastrous Qatar Grand Prix “on the chin” after a costly choice not to pit under the safety car ruined his race.
The McLaren driver slipped back in the title fight after a safety car was called at the Losail circuit following a clash between Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg. While Max Verstappen – and every other driver – pitted for fresh tyres, both Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri stayed out.
“We could have done many things differently but we didn’t and we thought we did what was correct, so nothing wrong,” Norris said of the strategy. “t wasn’t… I still had a long race ahead of me so I had to focus and do my best,” he added.
On whether McLaren should have pitted on lap 7, the Briton admitted that both he and Piastri should have, even if that meant him losing time in a close double stack.
“Probably yes, but both of us should have done,” he said. “I would have been had over either way because we would have double stacked and potentially I would have lost time. A bit of time – I probably wouldn’t have lost a position I don’t think.
“But yeah, it’s something we’ll go and talk about and review. You know, I also have to have faith that the team are making the right call and that’s what I had to do.” Asked if he had yet been given more detail from the pitwall, he replied: “No, I just got out of the car.”
This sees the Briton leading the championship by only 12 points, with both Verstappen and Piastri still in mathematical contention as they head into the final round of the season at Abu Dhabi.
For the championship leader, nothing changes.
“It’s the same as every weekend. I try and beat them, they try and beat me. It’s nothing different. So I just want to go to bed,” he said. “Nothing I can do about it.
“It’s obviously not our greatest day, not our greatest weekend. But I’ve had… I don’t know if anyone saw the run of results I had before that. It was great. I’ve put myself in this position. I’m still happy.
“It wasn’t our finest day, it wasn’t my finest weekend in terms of driving and putting things together. But that’s life. Everyone has bad weekends. I take it on the chin, we all take it on the chin, and we’ll see what we can do next weekend.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lando-norris-rues-poor-strategy-call-from-mclaren-just-want-to-go-to-bed/10781278/
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has confirmed that the Woking outfit will continue with its approach of giving Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri equal treatment in the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
The Qatar Grand Prix ended with Piastri finishing in second behind Max Verstappen after starting from pole position, and Lando Norris missed out on a podium with a fourth-place finish after starting from second.
While Norris lost a position to Verstappen at the start of the race, it was McLaren’s decision not to pit either driver when the safety car was deployed on lap 7 that seemed to derail the team’s race.
Now, heading into the season finale, Norris leads the championship by just 12 points over Verstappen, who has now overtaken Piastri in the standings. The Australian driver trails the four-time champion by four points.
Stella argued that they didn’t pit Piastri or Norris on lap 7 as they didn’t expect every other driver to do so and it restricted the pitstop strategy decisions for the remainder of the race. However, many have pointed to the team not wanting to put either driver at a disadvantage as a contributing factor in the decision.
As the championship battle heats up, the question of McLaren backing one driver for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has resurfaced.
“First of all, we understand Oscar being extremely disappointed because, like I said at the start, he has done everything, right? He’s been fast. He’s been solid. He’s been consistent,” Stella told Sky Sports F1.
“Likewise, Lando, so the drivers deserved to capitalise on their great performance. In terms of adapting the way we go racing, we just want to always keep the options open for both drivers. They’re both in condition to win the championship.
“There’s often been in the history of Formula 1 a situation in which it was the third one in the classification to actually win the championship. I remember 2007 with Kimi, I think it was the same in 2010. I think we have to respect the fact that Oscar, he has his chance to win, and therefore we are going to let them race.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/will-mclaren-back-either-lando-norris-or-oscar-piastri-in-abu-dhabi-andrea-stella-confirms/10781295/
Max Verstappen and Red Bull came out on top in a battle of strategies in the Qatar Grand Prix, giving the reigning World Champion the boost he needed to remain in the fight for the Drivers’ Championship title.
After he passed standings leader Lando Norris at the first corner on the opening lap, it looked like Verstappen would have to settle in behind Oscar Piastri and wait to see what played out in the 57-lap race.
His first big opportunity came sooner than expected as Nico Hulkenberg made contact with Pierre Gasly, forcing the Kick Sauber driver to retire and prompt a Safety Car period. With Pirelli placing a 25-lap limit on each set of tyres at this circuit, almost all of the teams chose to pit and take advantage of the neutralised conditions.
While they lost significantly less time compared to a normal stop and ticked off one of the two mandatory tyre changes, McLaren chose to stay out on track, giving them a much harder job as they had to catch up on two stops in normal racing conditions.
Verstappen was understandably full of praise for his team’s strategy after the race, saying: “This was an incredible race for us. We made the right call as a team to box under the Safety Car.
“That was smart. Of course, I’m super happy to win here and stay in the fight until the end.
“It was a little bit offset because of it all, but for us I think it was a very strong race on a weekend where it was a little bit tough. We still won the race and that was the most important thing.
“[McLaren choosing not to pit] was an interesting move. I knew that then of course we had a bit of a gap, but you still need to keep the tyres alive for 25 laps – the wear is very high around here, but luckily it all worked out.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/its-all-possible-now-verstappen-elated-after-incredible-qatar-victory-keeps.2FfKkZDduatgpL8pIGswff