Norris gives Piastri Sprint victory as McLaren closes in on title.

Piastri Qatar Sprint Victory – Oscar Piastri was given victory over the finish line at the final F1 Sprint by team-mate Lando Norris in a crucial McLaren one-two at the Qatar GP as Mercedes’ George Russell completed the top three.

Oscar Piastri, #88, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes MCL38, celebrates in Parc Ferme with team-mate Lando Norris #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL38 and Team Boss Zak Brown after scoring victory in the final F1 Sprint of the season, F1 Sprint, Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2024, Lusail International Circuit, Lusail City, Qatar. Image credit to Mark Thompson/Getty Images. Piastri Qatar Sprint Victory, 2024 Qatar Sprint Results, F1 Qatar Sprint Results, 2024 Formula 1 Qatar GP Sprint Results.

Norris returned the favour to Piastri after the Australian gave the Briton the win in Brazil.

McLaren scored an important maximum 15 points in their Constructors Championship battle with Ferrari as both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc came home in fourth and fifth respectively for the Scuderia. The gap sits at 30 points. The Woking based-outfit need to be another 14 points clear of Ferrari in the Qatar Grand Prix to be at 44 points to secure their first Constructor’s Championship crown since 1998.

When the 19-lap Qatar F1 Sprint began, pole-sitter Norris get a good start into turn one as behind them Russell battles wheel-to-wheel with Piastri into the opening corner with the latter crucially getting the jump onto the Mercedes to move up into second place to make it a McLaren one-two.

Further behind them Hamilton got a solid start to move up into fifth place passing Leclerc.

At the beginning of lap two Norris had a 1.161 second gap over team-mate Piastri with Russell third, Sainz fourth, Hamilton fifth as Leclerc rounded out the top six runners.

On the third tour in the battle for second, the Mercedes of Russell kept within DRS range of Piastri as the Silver Arrow had the better straight-line speed than the McLaren.

Lap four saw Russell with DRS assistance made a late lunge on Piastri into turn one but the latter managed to cover the Mercedes remaining on the racing line and the two also made contact as Russell yelled “He ***** turned in on me!”

On the fifth lap, Norris’s lead was at 0.814 seconds over team-mate Piastri with Russell third, Sainz fourth, Hamilton fifth whilst Leclerc completed the top six.

The top five were all within DRS range of each other on the beginning of lap seven as a train was forming behind race leader Norris.

Norris confirmed over the radio he brought team-mate Piastri into DRS range to help him defend from third-place Russell.

At the start of lap eight, with DRS on the main-straight, newly crowned four-time world champion Max Verstappen made a move on the inside of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and passed the A524 into turn one to move up into eighth place, the Dutchman now has seventh-placed Haas of Nico Hulkenberg in his sights.

Upfront, the top five were keeping line astern as fourth-placed Sainz moved out of DRS range from fifth-placed Hamilton.

With ten laps remaining. Norris’s lead over team-mate Piastri was at 0.808 seconds with Russell holding third, Sainz fourth, Hamilton fifth as Leclerc rounded out the top six.

In the fight for fifth, Leclerc was starting to close in on Hamilton who could have overcooked his medium tyres as he was chasing Sainz so hard. Further behind them, Verstappen was also on the charge chasing down seventh-placed Hulkenberg who was 1.5 seconds up the road.

With DRS assistance on the main-straight on lap 13, Leclerc made a move on the inside of Hamilton into turn one as both drivers ran wheel-to-wheel almost making contact through the first few sequence of corners and the former just nudges ahead to take fifth place.

On the following lap, Russell once again almost made the move on second-placed Piastri as the latter managed to hold the position. Sainz was much closer to Russell as a result of this.

Lap 15 saw race leader Norris said he was struggling to manage his front tyres as his McLaren team responded to keep team-mate Piastri in DRS range to help resist the threat from Russell.

Further back, Verstappen was still stuck at 1.5 seconds and was not closing up on Hulkenberg and looks to have the final points paying position of eighth intact.

Up-front, Piastri was beginning to drop back from team-mate Norris as the gap fell to 1.190 seconds on the penultimate tour as Russell tried to make a move on the McLaren, but the Australian kept ahead with enough of a gap to do so.

On the final tour, Russell once again with DRS on the main-straight attempted another move on Piastri, but the latter crucially remained in-front with enough of a gap.

On the main-straight, race leader Norris let team-mate Piastri by over the line to take the final F1 Sprint victory of the season as McLaren crucially scored a one-two finish crucially in the Constructor’s Championship battle with Ferrari.

Russell reached the chequered flag to complete the podium as Sainz, Leclerc and Hamilton followed in fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

Haas’s Hulkenberg was an impressive seventh as Verstappen rounded out the final points place for Red Bull.

Alpine’s Gasly took ninth and in-front of the second Haas VF-24 entry of Kevin Magnussen who came tenth and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who crossed the line 11^th.

Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas finished the Qatar F1 Sprint 12^th and ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who was 13^th and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who followed in 14^th.

Williams’ Alexander Albon and Franco Colapinto were 15^th and 18^th respectively as RB’s Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda split the duo in 16^th and 17^th.

The second Sauber of Zhou Guanyu who started on the softs and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez brought up the rear as the latter also came in for a new front wing after sustaining damage.

You can see the full Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2024 F1 Sprint Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2024/races/1251/qatar/sprint-results

2024 Qatar F1 Sprint – The Top Three

Oscar Piastri, #88, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes MCL38, celebrates in Parc Ferme after scoring victory in the final F1 Sprint of the season, F1 Sprint, Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2024, Lusail International Circuit, Lusail City, Qatar. Image credit to Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty Images. Piastri Qatar Sprint Victory, 2024 Qatar Sprint Results, F1 Qatar Sprint Results, 2024 Formula 1 Qatar GP Sprint Results.

2024 Qatar F1 Sprint Winner – Oscar Piastri, #81, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL38 – 8 Points:

“It was about defence for the whole race. I had a good start, a good Turn 1 but I killed the front [tyres] a little bit early on and was struggling for the rest of the Sprint. Some great teamwork, without that would have been a difficult Sprint.”

2^nd Place – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL38 – 7 Points:

“We scored a 1-2, that’s what we were aiming for, and we are happy as a team. I probably could have pushed a little more than I was doing, but we didn’t want to give George a chance. It was probably a bit closer than I was wanting [to swap positions], but I had planned to do it since Brazil. It was a bit sketchy, the team told me not to do it, but I did it anyway.”

3^rd Place – George Russell, #63, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W15 – 6 Points:

“I mean it was very close going into Turn 1 on a couple of occasions. Lando backing up, giving Oscar the DRS – it was pretty infuriating! P3, but this afternoon is the important one.”