Verstappen wins crazy GP, McLaren looks back

While pole position was taken by Max Verstappen, it was George Russell who started at the head of the Qatar Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver received a one-place grid penalty for impeding the Briton on a warm-up lap in qualifying. The Dutchman therefore starts behind Russell, he is followed by the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri who makes up the second row.

Note also the presence of Sergio Pérez in ninth position, the Mexican had not found Q3 or the top 10 since the United States Grand Prix. Pierre Gasly starts from 11th place, Esteban Ocon starts in last position.

The race takes place in the evening since in Qatar it is 7:00 p.m. Temperatures are therefore cooler, around 19°C, and the sky is clear.

Note that Oscar Piastri is under investigation after the event for “aggressive driving” during the reconnaissance lap, he crossed the pit entry line just in front of Lewis Hamilton. In terms of strategies, most of the drivers opted for the medium tire to start this race with the exception of Nico Hülkenberg, 18th, who started on the hard tires.

Russell loses big, strikes at the back of the pack

The lights go out and the cars set off on the Losail circuit. Very good start from Norris who takes the inside of turn 1 and was on the verge of taking the first position, he nevertheless emerges from the first turn behind Verstappen, who closed the door well to take the lead of the race, Russell slipped in third position.

The yellow flag is already waved, the safety car is sent onto the track! Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto are in the gravel trap of the first turn, the Frenchman hooked up with Hülkenberg and took the Williams driver with him. Alexander Albon was also pushed by Lance Stroll, Zhou Guanyu, who started 12th, was also a victim of the Aston Martin. Ocon and Colapinto had to retire, the other drivers remained on the track.

Piastri lost a position to Leclerc, who regained fourth place. Note the very good start of Yuki Tsunoda who recovers four places at once, he is tenth. Gasly fell to 12th place. At the restart, the top 10 consists of Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz, Pérez, Alonso, Hamilton and Tsunoda.

Verstappen restores the pace on the fourth lap, Piastri regains his fourth place thanks to the slipstream in the straight, while Liam Lawson spins at the back of the peloton, he nevertheless gets back on the track. Tsunoda also manages to overtake Alonso, the Spaniard gets eaten up on the straight and immediately loses several places. Piastri is now threatening Russell.

Hamilton is under investigation for a potential false start. Kevin Magnussen attacks Tsunoda at turn 3 from the outside and takes ninth place, the Japanese is in difficulty on his rubber. Lawson in turn received a ten-second penalty for a collision with Valtteri Bottas at the start of the race. Gasly enters the top 10, passing Tsunoda in turn. And it's Hamilton's turn to take a five-second penalty for his false start.

The VCARB driver's pace completely collapsed, Zhou overtook him to gain 12th place. Piastri lost the rear end of his car in the last corner, but remained in Russell's exhausts. On lap 17, Verstappen is still in the lead with 1.7 seconds ahead of Norris. The two drivers opened up a gap of more than four seconds with the third, Russell. The Dutchman sets a high pace in this first part of the race.

On the 24th lap, Russell was the first to enter the pits to put on hard tires, surely to prevent Piastri from attempting an undercut. However, the stop is very long, more than seven seconds, the Mercedes driver emerges into traffic in 11th place, behind Alonso. At the front, Verstappen and Norris continue to prance, exchanging the best laps in the race, there is now more than eight seconds of gap with the rest of the peloton.

Spins, retirements and Safety Car

On the 30th lap, Russell was still stuck behind the Aston Martin without being able to find the fault, the hard tires seemed really complicated to use. A mirror is in the middle of the track on the straight, it is that of Alexander Albon, the yellow flag is triggered only on this part of the circuit. Norris gains ground on Verstappen who complains that the Briton did not slow down under yellow flag.

While the mirror had not been removed from the track, Bottas, moving aside for a blue flag, drove over it and exploded the piece. Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz punctured while driving on carbon debris. The safety car is finally sent onto the track. The drivers take the opportunity to go through the pit lane. We are on lap 36, and after this burst of pit stops, the top 10 consists of Verstappen, Norris, Leclerc, Piastri, Pérez, Gasly, Russell, Sainz, Zhou and Alonso.

The big loser remains Hamilton, 16th. Russell also returned to the pit lane, but Mercedes gave him hard tires. The driver is furious on the radio given his poor pace on the whitewall rubber. The Safety Car comes in and Verstappen restarts the race, Norris stays glued to the Red Bull and tries the outside at the first corner, but the Dutchman does not let it go, the two drivers touch and it is Leclerc who takes the opportunity to get back together . Attacked by Russell, Gasly braked very late, nearly taking the Mercedes driver with him.

Max Verstappen, Lando Norris et Charles Leclerc.

Photo de: Red Bull Content Pool

Sergio Pérez spun even before the restart, the Mexican had to retire; Hülkenberg does the same and finds himself trapped in the gravel trap. The safety car is back, and retires at the start of the 43rd lap. Verstappen surprises Norris, and Leclerc tries to pass the Briton, but fails to find the loophole. Piastri is worried about vibrations on his front tire. At the same time, Lando Norris takes 10 seconds of stop-and-go for not having slowed down under a yellow flag earlier. The driver enters the pits and therefore comes out last.

The penalties are raining down, Lewis Hamilton takes five seconds again for having exceeded the speed limit in the pit lane, the Briton goes so far as to say that he wants to abandon, to which Mercedes responds negatively then positively. The seven-time world champion ultimately remains on the track. There are only ten laps left in this race, the top 10 after these few completely chaotic laps consists of Verstappen, Leclerc, Piastri, Russell, Gasly, Sainz, Alonso, Zhou, Magnussen and Albon.

Norris is slowly moving up, he is currently 12th. The McLaren driver quickly took 11th position from Albon then entered the top 10, at the same time earning himself the point for best lap. The Thai also received a 10-second penalty for exceeding the limit on Magnussen.

Max Verstappen finally wins this totally incredible Qatar Grand Prix. He is ahead of Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri. Russell finished fourth ahead of Pierre Gasly who brought big points to Alpine; Sainz, Alonso, Zhou, Magnussen and Norris complete the top 10. Zhou finally unlocks the Stake F1 points counter!

Qatar Grand Prix – Race