#F1: @Max33Verstappen outfoxes @McLarenF1 to clinch #QatarGP victory.

Verstappen Qatar GP Victory – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took advantage of an early safety car to clinch a crucial victory at the Qatar GP and remain in the championship fight as the sport heads to a final three-way showdown for the title in Abu Dhabi next weekend. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished second as Williams’ Carlos Sainz completed the top three. Championship leader Lando Norris came home fourth.

 

 

The World Driver’s Championship picture now sees Verstappen in second place 12 points behind Norris with Piastri a further 16 points behind his McLaren team-mate.

 

Norris (408) – Verstappen (396) – Piastri (392).

 

This was Verstappen’s 70^th-career victory as the Dutchman continued his resurgence towards his potential fifth world championship crown.

 

When the 57-lap Qatar GP began, pole-sitter Piastri got a good start as Verstappen jumped Norris to move up into second place as the Dutchman covered the McLaren into turn four to make the move stick,

 

Behind them, fourth-placed starter George Russell had a poor start as the Mercedes driver dropped to seventh.

 

The beginning of lap two saw Piastri over 1.2 seconds clear of Verstappen with Norris holding third, Antonelli fourth, Sainz fifth, Alonso sixth, Russell seventh, Hadjar eighth, Gasly ninth as Hulkenberg completed the top ten.

 

Hamilton was up to 14^th – he was 13^th but got picked off by RB’s Liam Lawson. So, his C3 softer tyres have worked well. Hulkenberg was 10^th as the other C3 starter, as he picked off Leclerc who drops out of the points.

 

The third lap – Piastri was leading by 1.5 seconds already, Norris was likewise 1.5 seconds behind Verstappen. Those three were already thinking about tyre wear out there, the dirty air will do the tyres no favours at all, with the mandatory limit to 25 laps.

 

Hulkenberg was the man to watch; he was trying to pick off Gasly in the battle for ninth place.

 

The fourth lap – Piastri would be clear of the undercut threat from behind – he already led by over two seconds from Verstappen.

 

The C2 medium-shod runners all would want to get close to that 25-lap mark tonight, as do the duo on hards (Albon & Colapinto). Those on softs (Hulkenberg and Hamilton) could be pitting earlier, out of sequence.

 

Lap five – Antonelli was holding fourth and is aiming for a podium – as well he might, knowing Norris ahead cannot afford to make an error and thus might be a bit cautious.

 

The Italian was within DRS range of Norris at this stage in the battle for third place.

 

The sixth lap – Verstappen had been beset with issues all weekend long – now the Dutchman was complaining about the balance of his RB21 racer, as the front left tyre started to take a beating.

 

Meanwhile, Gasly was given a black and white flag for rejoining the track unsafely, that was for an incident a few tours ago where he ran wide fighting Hulkenberg.

 

The seventh lap – Piastri was now 2.6 seconds ahead of Verstappen at this stage, as he began to manage his rubber a little bit. Norris was 1.7 seconds behind the Dutchman, and Antonelli had dropped back out of DRS range as he cooled his tyres.

 

But the yellows are out after Hulkenberg had crashed and it deployed the safety car.

 

Hulkenberg and Gasly made contact, as the former was parked up and the latter was running last. It was the seventh tour so it was decision time. Pit under the Safety Car, and you would need to do two stints of 25 laps on the next two sets of tyres.

 

And Verstappen took the opportunity to pit…. As did everyone else bar the McLaren drivers and Ocon.

 

Lap eight – The question was have McLaren made a genius move or hit an own goal? McLaren have both cars out as everyone bar Ocon pitted behind – Ocon had just received a penalty for a false start.

 

And as Piastri caught the Safety Car, Verstappen had already caught back up to the front trio of the two McLarens and Ocon.

 

Replays of the crash showed Hulkenberg eye up the overtake, the Sauber driver went to sweep around the outside and as they both came round the corner side-by-side, there was the smallest tangle.

 

That spun Hulkenberg off with a puncture, and damaged Gasly’s A525 entry.

 

Lap nine – This race had taken a real turn. The rest of the pack would likely pit on Lap 32 and then go to the end. Ocon can go to lap 33 as he did pit the second time around.

 

McLaren have the “flexibility” according to Norris’ Race Engineer William Joseph to run a longer or shorter stint.

 

The tenth lap – Verstappen was told to expect McLaren to push hard when the race gets back to green. He was 1.2 seconds behind Norris, and had a pit stop on them.

 

As long as the tyres last, Verstappen was sitting perfect.

 

When the race resumed on lap 11, Piastri caught team-mate Norris off guard and made a charge for it being over a second clear with Verstappen a further 1.3 behind Norris.

 

The 12th tour – Piastri lead by 1.3 seconds to team-mate Norris, who was 1.9 seconds in-front of Verstappen. Sainz got ahead of Antonelli in the pits, Mercedes holding their driver briefly due to pit-lane traffic.

 

Alonso was sixth ahead of Hadjar and Russell, with Leclerc and Bearman in the points after Hulkenberg and Gasly’s tangle.

 

The 13^th lap – Piastri was leading by 1.6 seconds at this stage of proceedings, as Norris continued to drop Verstappen – who was managing his tyres, knowing they have to last until the 32^nd tour.

 

The McLarens were flying here, as the pairing attempted to build that gap to regain some of the time lost by not pitting under the Safety Car.

 

Lap 14 – The situation was Piastri leading from Norris by 1.9 seconds, with Verstappen now 3.8 seconds back.

 

The 15^th tour – Race leader Piastri was told his pace was good, whilst Verstappen was told his tyres were okay and he could start pushing again.

 

Verstappen was 6.3 seconds behind Piastri and 4.1 seconds behind Norris.

 

McLaren were aiming to build a gap to drop into quite rapidly, as they have the speed out there at this stage and were running in fresh air.

 

Lap 16 – McLaren were lapping in the 1:25 range, two seconds faster than the majority of the field, Verstappen was in the 1:26’s, as was Sainz. So, McLaren could actually build a gap on most of the field – but not on the Dutchman.

 

At this stage, Verstappen was sitting very well. But the reigning world champion might not be potentially on his third stint, which would either be a risky C3 soft stint or a slower but safer harder tyre run.

 

The 17^th lap – If McLaren opt pit both cars on the 25^th lap, they would be double stacking – which would hamper Norris. Instead, they might pit Piastri first on lap 24 and Norris on lap 25, to prevent that happening.

 

Lap 18 – Piastri was leading by 3.2 seconds, Norris was 4.72 seconds in-front of Verstappen. On the radio, both were being encouraged to push. But they would not build that 26 second gap on this initial stint, so their strategy was going to unwind later on in the last stint where on fresh tyres, they might have to overtake Verstappen on track.

 

The 20^th tour saw Piastri’s lead over team-mate Norris at 3.441 seconds with Verstappen a further 4.500 seconds off in third, Sainz fourth, Antonelli fifth, Alonso sixth, Hadjar seventh, Russell eighth, Leclerc ninth as Bearman completed the top ten runners.

 

Verstappen like the majority needed to make his tyres last 25 laps. But the team were clearly happy with his tyre wear as he has been told to push harder, and his times were not matching the McLaren pairing out-front.

 

The Dutchman was 4.5 seconds behind Norris… Who would be concerned about the DRS train behind Alonso. McLaren need to clear that when they make their stops.

 

Alonso was 21.5 seconds behind Piastri at this stage of proceedings.

 

The 21^st lap – Verstappen matched the leading McLaren’s for pace. Those three were over a second a lap quicker than Sainz who was in an impressive brilliant fourth place.

 

McLaren would drop both cars behind Verstappen, but the big question was how slow Alonso is going to go, and whether they can clear the Spaniard who had the train of cars behind him.

 

The 22^nd tour – McLaren were going close to that 25-lap mark on these C2 mediums and gave them more flexibility on their strategy for their second and third stints. But they would need to pit soon.

 

Lap 23 – Piastri was 24.5 seconds in-front of Alonso. He was not far off clearing that DRS train. Norris needed to push on to ensure he also drops into fresh air.

 

But when they stop, Verstappen would take the lead on merit.

 

Lap 24 – Piastri pitted from the lead for his fresh set of the C2 medium compounds – the Australian had a 3.1 second stop and emerged in fifth place behind Antonelli as Norris was told to box on his next tour.

 

The 25^th lap – Norris pitted for his fresh set of the C2 seconds and with a brilliant 2.2 second stop from the McLaren pit-crew, came out crucially just in-front of Alonso.

 

Meanwhile, Verstappen lead the race from Sainz and Antonelli.

 

Lap 27 – At this stage – Verstappen was leading the Grand Prix, as McLaren tell Norris they do want to do 25 laps on this set of mediums.

 

Verstappen on paper would score 25 points here, Piastri 12 and Norris 10.

 

This would mean the Championship would go down to the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – and Verstappen would be right back in the fight.

 

Meanwhile, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was hit with a five-second-timed-penalty for speeding in the pit-lane.

 

The 28^th tour – Lap 32 is when there would next be a flurry of pit-lane activity. That is when everyone except for the McLaren duo, Ocon and Stroll would need to pit.

 

Piastri was rapidly catching back up to Antonelli, he was 2.4 seconds behind and in a few tours, the Mercedes man would be pitting anyway.

 

Lap 29 – Verstappen was 14.8 seconds ahead of Sainz, and he was 17.7 seconds ahead of Piastri and 22 seconds clear of Norris. And the Dutchman needs to pit again, but so do all of those behind him.

 

The 30^th lap – Verstappen was flying in clean air. Behind the Red Bull driver, Piastri passed the Mercedes down into the opening corner on the inside. Aggressive, fair and Antonelli did not fight that.

 

The Australian was up into third.

 

Lap 32 – At the end of this tour, everyone who pitted behind the Safety Car should be pitting.

 

Verstappen would emerge behind the McLaren duo based on the gaps.

 

Lap 33 – Verstappen pitted from the lead for his fresh set of the C2 harder compounds along with the majority of the field.

 

Piastri returned back into the lead as Verstappen came out in third and three seconds behind Norris.

 

Russell had a tight exit from his stop as the pit-lane was predictability chaotic. The Briton was released into the path of Lawson.

 

The 34^th tour – Piastri lead from Norris, 4.3 seconds between the two McLaren’s. Verstappen was 3.3 seconds behind Norris, but the Dutchman does not have to pit again.

 

Sainz was fourth in-front of Antonelli and Ocon, who would be pitting momentarily.

 

Then came Alonso, Hadjar, Russell and Leclerc.

 

Lap 35 – Bearman was noted for being released in an unsafe condition – The Haas driver was in the points behind Leclerc and then he was down in P18.

 

Stroll was out of sequence having pitted in between the rest, so he would need to pit again.

 

And Ocon pitted for his second mandatory pit-stop.

 

The 36^th lap – Piastri and Norris need to pit again. The pairing could so quite late, but Piastri will have to stop one lap before his team-mate if they take these tyres to the maximum 25^th-tour limit.

 

When they pit, Verstappen likely would take the lead… And they’ll have to catch and pass the Dutchman on track.

 

Meanwhile, replays showed Bearman ran over something in the pits, it looked like the rear jack was still attached when the lights for the Briton went green.

 

The 37^th tour – Piastri was leading by six seconds over team-mate Norris, as he asked what the best-case scenario was. Verstappen was just two seconds behind Norris who has had an off-track excursion out there. He asks the team to check the car, which could have suffered damage after he ran wide.

 

Lap 38 – The Safety Car window was open for McLaren here – but if not for that, they would need to keep an eye on Antonelli and Sainz unless they drop even more places with strategy calls.

 

Replays showed Norris did run wide, but he missed the gravel so his MCL39 racer could be okay.

 

The 39^th lap Piastri was now de facto in-front of Sainz and Antonelli as he had a big enough gap to pit and come back out in-front of the duo. Norris was not, so he needed to push on.

 

Verstappen was the man sitting well, assuming he can get his harder tyres to the end. His mediums lasted 25 laps, so the hard tyre should do so comfortably.

 

Lap 40 – Norris was only 22 seconds in-front of Sainz, and 26 seconds in-front of Antonelli so he needed to build a bigger gap here to ensure when he pits, he does clear the pairing.

 

A Safety Car would not help McLaren at this stage of proceedings – Verstappen was in their window so even if they pitted behind one, they would emerge behind the Red Bull. Albeit on fresher rubber.

 

The 41^st tour – Piastri was leading the race, but he was set to lose out here as instead of eating seven points into Norris’ lead, he might only take out three points.

 

Verstappen though, could see a ten-point swing go his way, or more if Norris could not clear Sainz.

 

Lap 43 – Race leader Piastri stopped for his fresh set of the C2 white-branded harder compound and emerged in third place behind Verstappen.

 

Norris was leading from Verstappen, who was right on his tail. Piastri did come out comfortably ahead of Sainz and had a solid 1.8 second stop.

 

Behind them, Bearman was the second retiree of the race.

 

The 44^th tour – Norris stopped from the lead to put on his fresh set of hards and the championship leader came out behind both Sainz and Antonelli in fifth place.

 

Lap 45 – The order was Verstappen leading the race from Piastri, Sainz, Antonelli and Norris. And none of them have to pit again.

 

The 46^th tour – As it stands – Verstappen would score 25 points, Piastri 18, and Norris just 10 points.

 

So, Norris would lead the Championship by 10 points from Verstappen, and 14 from Piastri.

 

Norris needed to get past Sainz and Antonelli unless he wants a very nervy final round in Abu Dhabi.

 

Behind them, Alonso had suffered a spun and kept his car on the track.

 

The 47^th tour – Verstappen held a 15 second lead over Piastri – so surely enough buffer to head for the victory.

 

Sainz was 6.8 seconds behind the McLaren, Antonelli was 2.6 seconds behind the Williams and Norris is a further three seconds off.

 

The MCL39 entries were on the fresher rubber.

 

Lap 48 – Piastri was given the hurry up and told he needed to be a second in-front of Verstappen per lap. “Yeah, nice,” said the Australian.

 

Piastri was leading this race earlier, but McLaren’s decision not to pit behind the Safety Car was looking more and more the wrong move.

 

Norris behind in fifth is flying and charging towards fourth-placed Antonelli.

 

The 49^th tour – Piastri just could eat into Verstappen’s lead fast enough. He looks on course for second place, but this was all about how high Norris could climb. He was just 1.3 seconds behind Antonelli, and a further 27 seconds behind Sainz.

 

Lap 50 – Norris did not have much joy overtaking Antonelli in the earlier stage of proceedings, but now the championship leader was hunting, he was hurting and his tyres were 12 tours younger. Both were on the C2’s, which would not have seen too much degradation.

 

The 51^st tour – Hadjar remained ‘best of the rest’ in sixth place after Alonso’s spin, with Russell seventh and the Aston Martin driver recovered to eighth. Leclerc and Lawson were also in the points.

 

A bit further up – Norris was in DRS range on Antonelli.

 

Lap 52 – Third-placed Sainz radioed to say he thinks something had fallen off his FW47 entry – and he had understeer as a result. This would be the third time the Spaniard had suffered car damage this weekend.

 

The Williams driver was 2.5 seconds ahead of Antonelli, who had his hands full defending from Norris.

 

The 53^rd lap – Verstappen was leading – Piastri had given up the ghost and looked set for second place. But could Norris get past Antonelli and could Sainz hold on to the final podium place was the question.

 

Norris was struggling in the dirty air, and getting Antonelli would give him crucially two more points.

 

Lap 54 – The Dutchman could have gotten a bit lucky with the Safety Car – but McLaren had the option to pit one or both cars at that stage but opted not to.

 

The Dutchman was leading by 11.6 seconds from Piastri, as Antonelli started to close in on an third-placed Sainz, with Norris still unable to get past the Mercedes.

 

The 55^th tour – Sainz was just 1.4 seconds in-front of Antonelli. If Antonelli gets DRS, that would help him cover Norris, but also it meant dirty air for both. This was a battle for third, with the first two places seemingly locked in.

 

The penultimate lap – Hadjar suffered a puncture! He was running sixth, and he was dropping like a stone. This promoted Tsunoda into the points.

 

He was off the racing line so there were no yellow flags as Antonelli ran wide and Norris jumped into fourth place.

 

Verstappen crossed the line to clinch the Qatar GP victory 7.995 seconds clear of Piastri as Sainz completed the top three.

 

Norris came home fourth and crucially grabbed an extra two extra points to his tally in his defence on holding top spot heading into the season-closing Abu Dhabi GP next week.

 

The Mercedes pairing of Antonelli and Russell followed in fifth and sixth respectively as Aston Martin’s Alonso took seventh.

 

Ferrari’s Leclerc reached the chequered flag in eighth whilst Lawson and Tsunoda completed the top ten.

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2025 Qatar GP – The Top Three

 

 

2025 Qatar GP Winner – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB21 – (25 Points):

“An incredible race for us, we made the right call to box under that Safety Car. A strong race for us on a weekend that was tough. [When McLaren did not pit] I was like ‘that is an interesting move.”

 

2^nd Place – Oscar Piastri, #81, McLaren Formula 1 Team, Mercedes, MCL39 – +7.995s – (18 Points):

“Clearly, we did not get it right tonight. I drove as fast as I could but wasn’t to be. In hindsight it is pretty obvious what we should have done, but we’ll discuss that s a team. A little bit tough to swallow at the moment.”

 

3^rd Place – Carlos Sainz, #55, Atlassian Williams Racing, Mercedes, FW47 – +22.665s – (15 Points):

“I’m so proud of the whole team, we came into this weekend thinking it was going to be the toughest weekend of the year and came out with a podium. Nailed the strategy, nailed the start – we got everything right today.”

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Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2025 Race Results Classification (57 Laps)

 

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	57	1:24:38.241	25
2	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	57	+7.995s	18
3	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	57	+22.665s	15
4	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	57	+23.315s	12
5	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	57	+28.317s	10
6	63	George Russell	Mercedes	57	+48.599s	8
7	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	57	+54.045s	6
8	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	57	+56.785s	4
9	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	57	+60.073s	2
10	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull Racing	57	+61.770s	1
11	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	57	+66.931s
12	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	57	+77.730s
13	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber	57	+84.812s
14	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	56	+1 lap
15	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	56	+1 lap
16	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	56	+1 lap
17	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	55	DNF
18	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	55	DNF
NC	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	41	DNF
NC	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Kick Sauber	6	DNF

 

FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS QATAR GRAND PRIX 2025 – RACE RESULT

 

Click here for the 2025 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings

 

The final round of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island, United Arab Emirates for the season-closing Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2025 from Friday December 5-Sunday December 7.