A special sprint weekend for the Qatar Grand Prix with a tight 3-way battle between both McLaren drivers, Lando and Piastri and Max Verstappen.
The Sprint Qualifying is underway, and the track is ramping up as time goes by.
A very unhappy Hamilton, who’s knocked out of SQ1, and he is joined by both Alpines, Lawson and Stroll, who miss out as Ocon knocks him out.
In SQ2, Verstappen goes wide and off the track, unhappy with the car setup, and Antonelli also goes wide. Both Haas and Sauber teammates are unlucky and don’t make it through, along with Hadjar, who just missed out after his last-lap time was deleted.
SQ3 brings some surprises as Albon takes 10th and his teammate in 8th, split between them is the only Ferrari left, Leclerc. Antonelli slots into 7th, and then it’s a double Redbull finish with Verstappen in 6th and Tsunoda ahead in 5th.
A superb performance from Alonso in 4th with a shocking top 3 as our championship leader can only make 3rd. Russel improves and pushes into 2nd, and a brilliant quick lap from McLaren’s Piastri takes the top spot.
This is a good chance for Piastri to regain some valuable points for the driver’s championship.
Piastri on top!
The sprint will start with only 16 cars on the track, as four will start from the pit lane after changing their setups. A long pause waiting for the lights to go out, and Piastri is quick off the line as Tsunoda and Verstappen are fighting off the line.
At the first corner, both Red Bulls got ahead of Alonso, and Verstappen skillfully forced his way past Tsunoda and up into 4th place.
Leclerc had a bad start, going down into 13th place after going wide, and Hadjar had a brilliant start up into 9th. Piastri is controlling the pace as Russel is just over a second from him, but it is tight between Verstappen and Norris.
On lap 9, Williams lost a piece of its car, and Verstappen is complaining about the constant bouncing. A thick wind is following the drivers, making it difficult for them to overtake. Verstappen is now falling away from Norris.
Lawson overtook Leclerc, but he was off track, so he was ordered to switch positions. Leclerc has gone wide several times; both Ferraris are struggling. Antonelli gets ahead of Alonso with 6 laps to go, whilst Tsunoda is given a 5-second penalty for exceeding track limits.
Piastri soars as the winner of the Qatar sprint, Russel in 2nd and Norris hung onto 3rd with Verstappen just behind. Antonelli in 5th had a great rookie drive, and Tsunoda stayed in 6th. Alonso finished in 7th, unable to keep up with the race pace, and Sainz in 8th, taking the last point.
After the sprint result, the driver’s championship has gotten even tighter. Norris needs to win to secure his place as the championship leader. If he doesn’t win and Piastri and Verstappen have a good race, then the battle will continue till Abu Dhabi.
Time for another qualifying
Qualifying begins with all the cars fighting for the best track position, and Verstappen is still unhappy with his car setup.
Another disappointment for Hamilton as he’s out in 18th, Stroll and Colapinto taking the bottom spots. Ocon takes 17th, and Tsunoda just gets knocked out, which is a big shame after a better performance in the sprint qualifying.
Q2 is underway, and Bearman sets a beautiful, fast lap. Piastri and Norris put in some blinding laps and are safe from elimination.
Albon could not improve and finished in 15th, joined by both Saubers. Bearman, although he had quick laps to begin, could not improve as Lawson had a lap time deleted and was eliminated.
A competitive Q3 begins as Piaastri and Norris fight hard to set quick laps, with only 35 thousandths separating them. But what can Verstappen do?
A big spin from Leclerc, and he was lucky not to crash into the barrier; however, a brief red flag came out to clear away the gravel and a flying piece of plastic that came off Sainz’s car.
We are back on track with the final quick laps ready to be done. And it’s a disaster for Norris as he doesn’t make it in time to set another lap. Piastri flies by stealing pole position, and Verstappen slots behind Norris and into 3rd.
Russel and Antonelli start in 4th and 5th with Hadjar just behind. Saiinz improves and goes up into 7th with a good showing from Williams. Followed by Alonso, Gasly and Leclerc in 10th place.
It will be a very exciting race.
Raring to go!
Colapinto starts in the pit lane as Bortoleto starts last on the grid after an outstanding 5-second penalty.
A mixture of tyres will be used in this race as the cars complete their formation lap and prepare to begin the Qatar Grand Prix.
The lights go out, and Piastri is quick off the line, leading away as Norris and Verstappen fight off the start. Verstappen had a brilliant reaction, launched his car, and squeezed past into 2nd, with Norris trailing behind.
Battles are already forming amongst the cars as Leclerc loses a place to Hulkenberg, and Russel has fallen to 7th.
On lap 7, Hulkenburg and Gasly collided, causing Hulkenburg to spin off and a tyre to come off, and Gasly had a bad puncture.
This has brought out a safety car and a flurry of pit stops for nearly all the cars except for both McLarens, and Ocon is given a 5-second penalty for a false start. Since McLaren decided not to pit either car, Norris is now in 2nd, and it will be interesting to see if this race strategy pays off.
On lap 10, the safety car ends, Piastri restarts, and we wait to see how this battle will unfold. Lots of drivers are being noted for exceeding track limits, and all the cars are fighting hard.
An unfortunate double stack went wrong; for Mercedes, Russel fell short, with a big delay at the pit stop, meaning he is now in 8th place.
On lap 24, Piastri is called in to the box for a relatively quick stop, and he comes out in 5th position just in front of Alonso. Norris is in the pit a lap later, and an even quicker pit stop, and he comes out just in front of Alonso and close to Piastri.
Stroll receives a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, which won’t be good for Aston Martin. Piastri is setting the quickest laps as he overtakes Antonelli, and he’s now up into 3rd.
Followed shortly by lap 32, when everyone else pitted for the 2nd time. A lot of chaos, but the cars still all came out in similar positions.
Bearman had an incident in the pits and unfortunately came out in 18th position. Norris is having some issues as he goes wide on turn 14, and gravel flies everywhere, but he manages to continue.
Verstappen is on hard tyres but is looking strong, both McLarens are on mediums but are struggling, maybe the pressure is getting to them.
Piastri boxes on lap 43, and he comes out in front of Sainz after a 1.8-second stop. Bearman retires from the race after serving a 10-second penalty for the incident in the pit stop.
Piastri is 17 seconds behind Verstappen, and with just over 10 laps to go, he’s desperate to hunt him down. Norris is called into the box, and it’s a slightly slower stop, and he comes out behind Antonelli in 5th.
Norris needs to overtake Antonelli and Sainz to come 3rd whilst Russel and Hajar fight hard, but Russel goes wide. As Alonso spins but luckily doesn’t crash into another car, it’s a very crazy race with 10 laps to go. Sainz is determined to secure a podium as he’s in 3rd place, but Norris is coming after him.
Norris is chasing Antonelli down on lap 50, trying to overtake him. Hadjar in 6th, followed by Russel, still fighting. 4 laps to go, and Norris is still trying to attack Antonelli as Piastri hunts down Verstappen, but there’s still over 10 seconds between them.
Hadjar has a puncture on lap 56; he’s still going but is losing place and has ruined his race, allowing Tsunoda to go up into the points. Antonelli goes wide, and then Norris overtakes him, moving into 4th place, but it’s too late to get ahead of Sainz.
We will take it to Abu Dhabi!
Verstappen crossed the line in 1st with a superb strategy, with Piastri in 2nd and Sainz in 3rd, taking another podium for Williams. Norris finishes in 4th, so it is all still to play for, and the drivers’ championship will continue to battle into Abu Dhabi.
Antonelli finished in 5th with teammate Russel behind, Alonso managed to hang onto 7th after a big spin, and Leclerc in 8th. Lawsona and Tsunoda took the final top spots.
A tremendous job from Williams has Sainz with his 2nd podium of the season, and Albon just missed out on securing points in 11th. Williams secured their 5th place in the constructors’ championship.
Some highs and lows this weekend. If you’re a Max Verstappen fan, then it’s a high for you, but the McLarens, and in particular Norris, did not have a successful weekend.
So it’s still all to play for! See you in Abu Dhabi, where we will crown the driver’s Champion!