Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren) won the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix sprint ahead of his British teammate Lando Norris, allowing his team to widen the gap on Ferrari in the constructors' standings on Saturday at the Losail circuit.
Starting from pole position, Norris retained the lead at the first corner and seemed to be heading towards victory without trembling after even having to slow down to help Piastri maintain his second place, coveted by the Briton George Russell (Mercedes).
But the Englishman stepped aside just before the checkered flag to give victory to the Australian, who had done the same thing at the start of the month in Brazil.
“We wanted to finish first and second. We did things perfectly today (Saturday) and my pace was very good. I helped Oscar, and in the end I wanted to return the favor. I'm here to win races and championships, not sprints.”explained Norris.
The Ferraris of Spaniard Carlos Sainz and Monegasque Charles Leclerc finished in fourth and fifth place, their starting positions on the grid.
Under the spotlights illuminating the Losail circuit, McLaren therefore scored the maximum possible points on Saturday, 15, while the Scuderia was only able to take 9. The British team now has a 30-length lead over his Italian opponent while there are 88 left in play between now and the end of the season.
This is Piastri's second victory in a sprint race, a year after the one he already won in Qatar. But this time he got it by a long shot.
“It was more difficult than I expected… I had to defend throughout the race, I lacked a bit of rhythm, I struggled a bit but we did a superb job of team. It’s great to achieve the double”in souligné Piastri.
The Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), crowned world champion for the fourth consecutive time last weekend in Las Vegas, took eighth place after starting in sixth position, due to an error in the first round.
In the other fight in the constructors' standings, that for sixth place between Haas, Alpine and Racing Bulls, it was the German team which was able to do well on Saturday.
Ninth on the grid, the German Nico Hülkenberg made a very good start to take seventh place, which he kept until the end of the race, to score two points.
Now Haas is three and six lengths ahead of Alpine and Racing Bulls respectively.
Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Alpine), who started eighth, finished ninth, close to the points. His teammate Esteban Ocon (Alpine) had to settle for 14th place.
