Oscar Piastri dominated the Qatar GP sprint, closing the gap on championship leader Lando Norris to 22 points after the British driver finished third.
During Saturday’s 19-lap sprint, pole-sitter Piastri was consistently led by George Russell, while Norris fended off an early attack from Max Verstappen, who had moved up from sixth place on the opening lap, but with only two races left – Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix and December 7’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Norris fell to 25 points behind Norris.
The result means Norris will become world champion if he leads Piastri and Verstappen by at least 26 points after Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix.
The easiest way for him to achieve that is to win the race or finish second with Verstappen behind him and Piastri coming off the podium.
Verstappen and Piastri must stay within 25 points of Norris to remain in the title race at next weekend’s final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
“It’s been a good weekend so far. Everything went smoothly in the sprint, so I’m happy with how it’s going so far and we just need to keep it going,” Piastri said.
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Max Verstappen overtakes teammate Hiroki Tsunoda in Qatar GP sprint race, Oscar Piastri maintains lead on first lap
Hiroki Tsunoda achieved Red Bull’s best result of the season in fifth place despite a five-second time penalty due to track limits, while Kimi Antonelli made the only pass in the top 10 during the sprint to finish seventh, but was also penalized due to track limits.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso took the final points in 7th place and Williams’ Carlos Sainz in 8th place.
Ferrari suffered a difficult sprint with Charles Leclerc in 13th place and Lewis Hamilton remarking on his way back from the pit lane to 17th place: “I don’t know how I made the car go bad.”
Piastri returns to form and season title battle reaches climax
Piastri has lost points to Norris in the past seven race weekends, with his 34-point lead over his team-mate increasing to 24 points heading into Qatar at the end of August.
However, the smoother track layout and faster corners suited Piastri’s driving style and he controlled the sprint to take his first win since the Dutch Grand Prix three months earlier.
“Obviously it’s a lot different than the circuit we’ve been to before, with a lot more speed and a lot more grip, but I think things just haven’t worked out for us the last few weekends rather than a lack of pace,” Piastri said.
“Everything has been going well so far and the pace has been good. It’s a course that I’ve enjoyed in the past and I’m obviously enjoying it again.”
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Watch the Qatar Grand Prix flyover with Sky Sports News’ Craig Slater ahead of Saturday’s sprint race
Piastri was never threatened by Russell. Knowing he had little to lose against the championship leader, Russell aggressively passed Norris in the tense run up to Turn 1.
This left Norris vulnerable to Tsunoda, but the McLaren driver got past Norris in sector one and Verstappen also got past Alonso before being passed by teammate Tsunoda at turn four.
Verstappen stayed within a second of Norris for the first five laps, but the high-speed Lusail International Circuit made overtaking so difficult that he was unable to do so despite having DRS, and the top five remained in the same position from the first lap until the checkered flag.
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Red Bull’s Max Verstappen warned bounce was still a big problem after finishing fourth in the sprint, which hampered his ability to follow McLaren drivers.
“I didn’t actually see him (Max), I just saw George in front of me. I tried to move forward. I was pretty close at the start, which was good,” Norris said.
“I couldn’t see what was going on behind me. It was a long stint and I felt like I was being pushed pretty hard, so it’s going to be a tough race tomorrow.”
Sky Sports F1 Qatar GP Schedule
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A look back at some of the most dramatic moments that happened at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Saturday, November 29th
5:15pm: Qatar GP qualifying build-up
6pm: Qatar GP Qualifying
8pm: Ted’s Qualification Notebook
Sunday, November 30th
11:55am: F2 Special
2:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Qatar GP Build-up
4pm: Qatar Grand Prix
6pm: Checkered flag: Qatar GP reaction
7pm: Ted’s Notes
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
F1’s season-ending triple-header will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 over the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint weekend. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
