F1 Qatar GP: Norris gifts Piastri sprint race win as McLaren nears title

Oscar Piastri was gifted the Qatar Grand Prix sprint victory by Lando Norris, who controlled the race with a tactical drive to boost McLaren’s chances of sealing Formula 1’s constructors’ championship.

Norris ensured Piastri remained second by staying within DRS range, which allowed the Australian to repel an effervescent George Russell throughout the 19-lap race.

Having looked to have sealed the victory, Norris then let Piastri through at the finish line to allow his younger team-mate to claim the sprint win – and admitted that he’d long planned to pay Piastri back for giving up the sprint win in Brazil.

Norris had shrugged off the pressure of starting from pole and led the way in Turn 1, leaving fellow front-row starter Russell in the clutches of Piastri; the Melburnian hung his McLaren around the outside and held the favoured line for Turn 2 to complete the move.

With Norris slinking off into an early lead, Piastri came under renewed pressure from Russell when the Mercedes driver collected DRS. This prompted Piastri to defend at the start of the third and fourth laps, to the Las Vegas winner’s chagrin.

Norris then backed off to keep Piastri in DRS range, ensuring that the #81 car had more tools to contain Russell over the rest of the race.

It got to a point where Norris admitted to struggling with his front tyres, and asked if he should continue to help Piastri stay in his wake; McLaren responded in the affirmative, and thus Norris continued to aid McLaren’s claim to a 1-2 finish.

Piastri didn’t manage to get DRS in the final lap, which opened him up to a final Russell assault, but the eventual winner held firm – and then moved past a slowing Norris at the line to pick up the win.

Russell had Carlos Sainz behind him throughout the race, although the Ferrari driver was locked in the DRS train and unable to interlope on the battle for a top-three finish.

Charles Leclerc wrested fifth from Lewis Hamilton with an impressive move at the start of lap 13, in which the Monegasque gathered pace with DRS and went down the inside into Turn 1. 

Hamilton held on around the outside and looked to have defended with the inside line into Turn 2, but Leclerc kept his foot in and steamed around the outside to garner the upper hand into the next corner.

Nico Hulkenberg got valuable points on the board for Haas with seventh, as 2024 champion Max Verstappen finished eighth; the Red Bull driver was wayward in the opening lap and got passed by a fast-starting Hamilton, Hulkenberg and Gasly after suffering with oversteer.

Verstappen reclaimed the final point from Gasly ahead of the race’s halfway point, but could make no inroads into Hulkenberg. Gasly finished just under a second clear of Kevin Magnussen, who made a stunning getaway off the line to convert 15th into 10th.

Zhou Guanyu and Sergio Perez were the only stoppers in the race; the Chinese driver’s soft-tyre gamble did not pay off, while Perez was slow to get away from his pitlane start and was passed by fellow slow-lane occupant Franco Colapinto on the pit exit. The Mexican then stopped for a new front wing after spending the early laps stuck at the back.

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Cla	Driver	#		Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Pits	Points	Retirement	Chassis	Engine
1	O. PiastriMcLaren	81		19	27’03.010		227.774		8		McLaren	Mercedes
2	L. NorrisMcLaren	4		19	+0.136 27’03.146	0.136	227.755		7		McLaren	Mercedes
3	G. RussellMercedes	63		19	+0.410 27’03.420	0.274	227.717		6		Mercedes	Mercedes
4	C. SainzFerrari	55		19	+1.326 27’04.336	0.916	227.588		5		Ferrari	Ferrari
5	C. LeclercFerrari	16		19	+5.073 27’08.083	3.747	227.064		4		Ferrari	Ferrari
6	L. HamiltonMercedes	44		19	+5.650 27’08.660	0.577	226.984		3		Mercedes	Mercedes
7	N. HulkenbergHaas F1 Team	27		19	+8.508 27’11.518	2.858	226.586		2		Haas	Ferrari
8	M. VerstappenRed Bull Racing	1		19	+10.368 27’13.378	1.860	226.328		1		Red Bull	Red Bull
9	P. GaslyAlpine	10		19	+14.513 27’17.523	4.145	225.755				Alpine	Renault
10	K. MagnussenHaas F1 Team	20		19	+15.485 27’18.495	0.972	225.621				Haas	Ferrari
11	F. AlonsoAston Martin Racing	14		19	+19.204 27’22.214	3.719	225.110				Aston Martin	Mercedes
12	V. BottasSauber	77		19	+23.351 27’26.361	4.147	224.543				Sauber	Ferrari
13	L. StrollAston Martin Racing	18		19	+24.421 27’27.431	1.070	224.398				Aston Martin	Mercedes
14	E. OconAlpine	31		19	+30.379 27’33.389	5.958	223.589				Alpine	Renault
15	A. AlbonWilliams	23		19	+33.062 27’36.072	2.683	223.227				Williams	Mercedes
16	L. LawsonRB	30		19	+34.356 27’37.366	1.294	223.052				RB	Red Bull
17	Y. TsunodaRB	22		19	+35.102 27’38.112	0.746	222.952				RB	Red Bull
18	F. ColapintoWilliams	43		19	+35.639 27’38.649	0.537	222.880				Williams	Mercedes
19	Z. GuanyuSauber	24		19	+1’11.436 28’14.446	35.797	218.171	1			Sauber	Ferrari
20	S. PerezRed Bull Racing	11		19	+1’14.371 28’17.381	2.935	217.794	1			Red Bull	Red Bull
View full results

Photos from Qatar GP Sprint Race