The first race of the weekend in Qatar saw first-time polesitter Oscar Piastri start in the top spot alongside his teammate Lando Norris, with Max Verstappen from third looking forward to officially become a three-time World Champion.
The Red Bull driver can secure the deal if he scores three points or more, with his teammate and second place in the drivers’ standings Sergio Perez far behind in P8, but ready to put on a fight to keep the title race alive.
At the start Piastri strongly bolted to keep his P1, whereas Lando Norris and Max Verstappen were swallowed by the group, dropping off back to P6 and P5 respectively.
Another strong starter was Russell, who made his way to second place with the Ferrari drivers in tow, just before Liam Lawson spun out in his first-ever Sprint Race for AlphaTauri. His car was stuck in the gravel, so a safety car was needed.
At the restart Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris battle tightly for P6, with Mercedes’s Russell taking the lead from Piastri into turn 6.
Ultimately the Spanish driver lost his position to Esteban Ocon after a big fight with the aforementioned Brit. Shortly after, Williams’ Logan Sargeant spun out of the race, bringing out a second safety car of the evening.
Carlos Sainz mentioned issues in acceleration, with the team changing engine settings to try and fix the situation.
On lap 6 racing was resumed, with the Ferrari driver trying to pass Piastri for the second podium position. At the back of the grid, Tsunoda completed a move on Albon for P17.
Russell’s early move for the win was aided by him running on softs, like the Ferrari, Aston Martin and Alpine drivers. The polesitter is instead on mediums, which might prove useful in the final laps.
On Lap 9 Max Verstappen passed Charles Leclerc at Turn 1, with the Dutch driver eager to end his championship run on the podium, and soon bolting past Sainz as well.
Lewis Hamilton in the meanwhile overtook Pierre Gasly for P11, setting Perez in tenth as his next goal
On Lap 11, Piastri retook the lead from Russell as the softs started to give up, as Norris passed Leclerc. In a championship-deciding moment, Perez and Ocon crash out of the race, thus confirming that he won’t manage to score the points he needed to keep the title fight open for another day.
Photo credit: McLaren Racing
The two of them were running alongside approaching Turn 2, where Hulkenberg was sandwiched in the middle by them, and the Alpine driver hit him and the Red Bull driver both.
Hulkenberg had to retire as well due to damage for the three-way crash. The chaos at the bottom part of the top 10 advanced Lewis Hamilton to the poinst scoring zone in P8.
During the third safety car of the day, Russell asked to pit for fresher tyres but was denied, with the team ultimately deciding that tyre saving under the safety car regime was going to be enough, and Verstappen’s race engineer tried to steer him off from his wish of going flat-out for the sprint race win.
At the restart on Lap 14, Gasly passed Hamilton and Leclerc put pressure on Norris in P5, ultimately completing the move.
Four laps to the end, Verstappen passed Russell in P2 at Turn 1 on the inside. The lap after, the battle reprised between the Ferrari and the McLaren driver, with Norris passing not only the Monegasque but Sainz as well.
Gasly’s Alpine locked up at turn 6, allowing Hamilton to return to his previous position.
Alonso in P8 has to fend off Albon’s assaults for the point rewarded for P8. On the last lap, Norris caught Russell and passed him for the final podium position.
Hamilton passed Leclerc and Sainz as well for P5 and a double team finish ahead of their rivals in the constructors’ standings, with the Ferraris on softs severely struggling right now. Albon manages to pass Alonso for P8.
It’s an impressive maiden win for McLaren’s rookie driver Oscar Piastri, for the first McLaren win since Daniel Ricciardo in the 2021 Italian GP, with Max Verstappen runner in up in the race that crowns him World Champion for the third year in a row. To complete McLaren’s joy, Lando Norris will join Piastri in the top 3.
