Doha: Max Verstappen enhanced his late pursuit of a fifth consecutive drivers’ world championship on Sunday by fully capitalizing on a strategic error made by McLaren, achieving a remarkable hat-trick of victories at the Qatar Grand Prix.
The event was attended by Amir of Qatar His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, along with a number of Ministers, senior officials and guests.
The Red Bull racer executed an immediate pit-stop during an early safety car period, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris opted to remain on the track, allowing him to drive with calm precision and secure a convincing victory.
This win propelled him into second place in the championship standings with 396 points, just 12 points behind the series leader Norris, who finished fourth in what was a disappointing race for him and the Woking-based team, who were left astonished by the result.
Pole-sitter Piastri fell to third place but reduced his gap to Norris to 18 points, with one race left in Abu Dhabi next Sunday, where Verstappen has triumphed four times in the past five years.
“Everything is possible,” Verstappen remarked.
The Dutch driver crossed the finish line 7.995 seconds ahead of Piastri, with Carlos Sainz finishing third for Williams, 14.670 seconds behind, followed by Norris and the Mercedes duo of Kiimi Antonelli and George Russell.
It marked Verstappen’s seventh victory of the season, his third consecutive win in Qatar, and the 70th of his career.
“That was an amazing race for us,” Verstappen remarked, having dismissed his championship aspirations at the end of August before initiating a series of performances that transformed a 104-point gap to Piastri into a four-point lead.
“As a team, we made the correct decision to pit under the safety car; it was chaotic, but we ultimately succeeded.”
Hannah Schmitz, Red Bull’s race strategist, joined Verstappen on the podium to celebrate her contribution to his achievement.
Piastri, who lost a potential victory due to poor choices, expressed: “I’m at a loss for words. Clearly, we did not execute well tonight. I drove the best race I could, and there was nothing more I could have done.
“In retrospect, it is quite clear what we should have done, but we will review it as a team… It is certainly difficult to accept.”
At the start, Piastri launched ahead with an almost flawless start.
Meanwhile, Verstappen maneuvered to overtake Norris on the outside of Turn One.
On lap seven, Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber collided with Pierre Gasly’s Alpine, resulting in a spin-off that necessitated the deployment of a safety car.
Verstappen promptly pitted from second place for fresh medium tyres, while the McLaren duo opted to remain on track, thereby missing a ‘free stop’ in a race where two pit stops were obligatory due to a 25-lap limit for each tyre set.
Tense finale
“Shouldn’t we have followed him in, right? If we had known that the car ahead was staying out?” Norris inquired via team radio.
The safety car period concluded on lap 11, with Piastri once again pulling ahead of Norris.
However, as the only team that had not made a pit stop, they were required to complete two mandatory stops, while the other teams only needed one.
The Australian made his pit stop on lap 24 and re-entered the race in fifth place, just before Norris completed his first stop, which allowed Verstappen to take the lead.
Verstappen held an 18-second lead before he made another pit stop for hard tyres on lap 32, returning to the track in third place behind the two McLarens, aware that they still had one more stop to make.
Struggling to distance himself from Verstappen, the McLaren pair pitted on laps 43 and 45, hoping that their new hard tyres would enable them to catch up, but Piastri rejoined in second place, 15 seconds behind, while Norris returned to the track in fifth, trailing Sainz and Antonelli.
It meant a tense finale for the McLaren pair who had the fastest cars in the race and had started with a front row lockout – but threw it away with a basic strategy error that ensured the drivers’ title race will be decided in Abu Dhabi next weekend.
