Oscar Piastri has won the Qatar Sprint. After seizing pole position on Friday, Piastri got away cleanly and ran virtually untroubled for the entire sprint. Some slight vibrations were all he had to worry about as Piastri came home 4.951s clear of the field for his first win in any race format since the Dutch Grand Prix in August. With this win, Piastri is now 22 points off the championship lead, a vital gain as the season nears its end.
Behind him, George Russell made the most of his late surge in sprint qualifying, converting his front-row start into a second-place finish and openly praising both his team’s effort and the Lusail International Circuit, a track he has lauded as one of his favourites. Lando Norris was unable to catch the leading duo but nevertheless resisted the advances of a fast-starting Max Verstappen to retain third. After struggling in sprint qualifying, Verstappen surged past both Fernando Alonso and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda at the start. The reigning world champion pressured Norris in the opening laps but complained of excess bouncing. His pace eventually tailed off, forcing Verstappen to settle for fourth. With Norris in third, there are now 25 points between them. Failure to outscore Norris in the grand prix will mark the end of Verstappen’s championship hopes.
Yuki Tsunoda had his best performance in recent memory, after losing out to his teammate at the start, Tsunoda held firm in fifth despite receiving a five second time penalty for exceeding track limits. Kimi Antonelli was one of the few movers in the sprint. After Fernando Alonso suffered a snap of oversteer at the end of lap 12, Antonelli capitalised and overtook him into turn one. The Mercedes driver was later given a five-second time penalty for track limit violations but retained his sixth place.
Behind them, Carlos Sainz took the final points-paying position in eighth, despite losing some bodywork. Isack Hadjar finished ninth ahead of Alex Albon, Gabriel Bortoleto and Oliver Bearman.
Charles Leclerc suffered a poor start and spent much of the sprint in 13th. Liam Lawson briefly overtook Leclerc on lap 11 but did so off the circuit and was forced to hand the place back. Esteban Ocon finished 15th ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, Lewis Hamilton, who started from the pitlane after only qualifying 18th, and Pierre Gasly. Lance Stroll finished 19th despite pitting for a set of soft tyres on lap ahead of Franco Colapinto.
This sprint win could not have come at a more crucial time for Oscar Piastri. However, with Norris still the man in possession and Verstappen in with a shout, the rest of this weekend is going to be vital for all three contenders.
