Qatar GP: Oscar Piastri pulls back points against Lando Norris with the Sprint win

Oscar Piastri closed the gap from 24 points to 22 against Lando Norris with an emphatic victory in the Sprint in Qatar, with his teammate crossing the line in third place behind George Russell.

Piastri led from lights to flag while Norris had to fend off a charging Max Verstappen before the Red Bull driver’s race was undone by yet more “jumping” issues.

Oscar Piastri pulls back points in Qatar Sprint

For three of the drivers lining up under the lights at the Lusail International Circuit, the eight points for the final Sprint of the championship were vital – potentially a swing in the championship race.

Oscar Piastri, trailing Lando Norris by 24 points, put his McLaren on pole position with his teammate third, the McLarens split by George Russell. Max Verstappen, the final driver still in the hunt, was sixth on the grid behind Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda.

Piastri made a storming getaway while Norris tried to challenge Russell for second, and the two bumped wheels with Russell ahead. Verstappen was up from sixth to fourth in the space of two corners.

Tsunoda, Alonso, Kimi Antonelli and Carlos Sainz made up the top eight while Charles Leclerc dropped from ninth to 13th with an off at Turn 2.

Verstappen looked lively in his RB21 and challenged Norris for third place into Turn 1 on Lap 3, but the McLaren driver was able to maintain his position.

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Into Lap 6 of the 19-lap race, Norris lost DRS off Russell, the Mercedes driver breaking 1.3s clear, but Verstappen still had it on Norris. He closed in to within seven-tenths.

Further back, Isack Hadjar was all over the back of Sainz’s Williams in the fight for the final points-paying position with Alex Albon also in the hunt. Sainz lost a chunk of his Williams down the straight, but it didn’t seem to affect his pace as he pulled two seconds clear of Hadjar.

Reporting “jumping”, never mind “bouncing”, Verstappen began to lose ground to Norris in the fight for third place.

Leclerc’s attempts to make up positions were undone in his battle with Liam Lawson as they both went off the track, the Racing Bulls driver told to give the position back to Leclerc.

Tsunoda, still in P5, was shown the black-and-white for exceeding track limits and then go another. A five-second penalty incoming… And confirmed.

Behind him, Antonelli overtook Alonso for sixth after an off-track excursion from the Aston Martin driver. His teammate Stroll pitted from 17th place, swapping to the soft tyres in a slow pitstop.

Piastri was comfortably ahead 2.5s as the race entered its final lap, the Australia on course for the full eight points. He wrapped that up, five seconds seconds ahead of Russell with Norris in third. The gap in the championship was down from 24 points to 22 with 50 in play.

Verstappen was fourth ahead of Antonelli while Tsunoda’s five-second penalty dropped him from fifth on the line to sixth in the classification. However, a penalty for the some infringement for Antonelli saw Tsunoda return to P5 ahead of Antonelli. Alonso and Sainz completed the top eight.

Lewis Hamilton, who started from the pit lane in what was effectively 18th place, made up one position to finish P17 but it was down to Stroll’s pitstop. Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto also made pit stops in what was effectively practice for Alpine.

Qatar Grand Prix Sprint Result

1 Oscar Piastri McLaren
2 George Russell Mercedes +4.951
3 Lando Norris McLaren +6.279
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +9.054
5 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +19.327
6 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +21.391
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +24.556
8 Carlos Sainz Williams +27.333
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +28.206
10 Alexander Albon Williams +28.925
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +32.966
12 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +34.529
13 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +35.182
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +36.916
15 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +38.838
16 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +39.638
17 Lewis Hamilton Ferrar +46.171
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine +69.534
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +77.960
20 Franco Colapinto Alpine +80.804

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