Written by Owen Bradley
Max Verstappen took a controlled and impressive victory ahead of Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri at the F1 Qatar Grand Prix, Lando Norris was given a controversial 10-second stop and go penalty, in a chaos-filled race throughout, with many storylines to follow.
Max Verstappen and George Russell would go wheel-to-wheel on the run into Turn 1, Verstappen taking the inside line as Lando Norris surprised the pair of them, hitting the apex more effectively, drawing alongside the Dutchman heading into Turn 2, before the Red Bull managed to stay ahead after taking the inside line once again.
Further behind, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto would all collide, leaving Ocon and Colapinto out of the Grand Prix. Hulkenberg lost the rear of his Haas at the first corner whilst on the Hard compound, the tyre which takes longer to find grip. The German would lose the rear, as Ocon's front right tyre hit the left rear of the Haas, sending Ocon directly into the path of Colapinto.
At Turn 4, Lance Stroll and Alexander Albon would also make contact, with Stroll hitting the right rear tyre of Albon's Williams on the exit of the corner. The Thai driver would spin around as Guanyu Zhou was also nearly involved, both Albon and Zhou placing the blame on Stroll over the radio. The Canadian driver would be given a 10-second penalty before then retiring from the race.
These incidents brought out the Safety Car at the end of the first lap, with Verstappen and Norris both jumping George Russell, the Ferrari's also in contention just a little bit further behind.
At the restart, Verstappen would maintain his lead over Norris as George Russell loomed large in the mirrors of the McLaren. Oscar Piastri would quickly get past Charles Leclerc at Turn 1, overtaking the Ferrari before even turning into the corner. Further behind, Liam Lawson would lose control of his RB, the Kiwi driver spinning around at Turn 1 and making contact with Valtteri Bottas. Lawson would be given a 10-second penalty for this incident.
Lewis Hamilton would be given a 5-second penalty for a false start, jumping the five red lights just a fraction before they actually went out. Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly would duel with Yuki Tsunoda for several laps before overtaking the Japanese driver around the outside at Turn 1. Tsunoda would struggle even more intensely after Gasly got past, with Fernando Alonso, Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas all overtaking Tsunoda down the front straight, the RB driver seemingly conserving tyre grip.
Oscar Piastri would chase Russell for third place at the halfway stage of the race, the Australian seemingly getting a bit frustrated at one point, running across the kerb on the exit of the last corner, almost losing his McLaren in the process.
Russell would be the first driver at the front of the field to come into the pit lane, but would be devastated after Mercedes had a problem with the rear right tyre, costing the British driver vital time, as Piastri gained third place after that crucial mistake from Mercedes.
Both Russell and Hamilton would report back to Mercedes that the car began struggling with understeer, the car lacking front end grip, with Hamilton almost losing the car completely at Turn 2 on Lap 28. Hamilton in particular, was apparently losing over half a second per lap, as George Russell came out behind Fernando Alonso and struggled to get through on the Aston Martin.
Alexander Albon would lose his right-side wing mirror from his Williams, bringing out a double waved yellow flag at Turn 1. This debris would sit in the middle of the front straight for several laps before Valtteri Bottas would accidentally hit the mirror, sending smaller pieces of debris all across the front straight.
Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz would both pick up a front left puncture after running across that debris, as the FIA only then deployed a Safety Car.
Oscar Piastri would come into the pit lane just before the Safety Car was deployed, subsequently losing third place to Charles Leclerc, who jumped ahead of the Australian through the pit stop window.
Verstappen would report to Gianpiero Lambiase, his race engineer, that Lando Norris did not lift off the throttle during the double waved yellows, which is a punishable offence that has seen Verstappen himself receive penalties for.
At the restart, Lando Norris would challenge Verstappen running into Turn 1, the pair going side by side as the Dutchman held a slim margin on the inside line, successfully defending the lead of the Grand Prix. Oscar Piastri would then attack Charles Leclerc heading into Turn 1, almost making the move stick going into Turn 2, before the Monegasque managed to finalise the move at Turn 4.
Pierre Gasly would run deep into Turn 1 at the restart, ceding position to Carlos Sainz, before later overtaking the Ferrari once again at Turn 6. Before that restart, Sergio Perez's Red Bull would have a technical issue, the Mexican spinning around as the field were just about to race again.
With the third restart getting underway, Verstappen managed to extend a healthy lead as Charles Leclerc attempted an overtake on Lando Norris into the first corner.
Norris would be given a 10-second stop and go penalty for the earlier incident, not lifting off the throttle when the double waved yellow flags were being waved. Norris would come back out of the pit lane after serving his penalty in 15th place and around 16 seconds behind Liam Lawson, who ran in 14th place at the time.
Lewis Hamilton would then be given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane under the Safety Car with just 10 laps or so remaining. Hamilton would report to the team that he wanted to box and retire the car, with the team persuading the 7-time World Champion not to retire as there was only a short amount of laps remaining.
Carlos Sainz struggled to get past Pierre Gasly in the closing stages of the race, the Frenchman successfully defending fifth place and ensuring a huge points haul for Alpine, assisting them in the Constructors' Championship battle.
Albon would be given a 10-second penalty for pushing Bottas off the circuit at Turn, the pair of them later being overtaken by Norris, who set a blistering pace after serving his stop and go penalty, setting the fastest lap of the race and making his way back inside the Top 10 and therefore, the points.
Max Verstappen would come home to take a dominant and well-controlled Grand Prix victory in Qatar, taking his ninth win of the season and his 63rd career victory.
Charles Leclerc inherited second place after Norris' penalty, a crucial result for Ferrari in the Constructor's championship, as Ferrari go into Abu Dhabi just 21 points behind McLaren in the race for the title.
Oscar Piastri would finish in third place after a consistent drive, scoring a solid amount of points for McLaren and putting up a stern defence for the Constructors.
Russell would be investigated by the FIA for a Safety Car infringement late into the race, the British driver coming across the line in fourth position before being given a five-second penalty, which did not affect his finishing position.
Pierre Gasly would come across the line in fifth place after a very impressive defence against Carlos Sainz, who finished in sixth. Gasly's fifth place means Alpine score valuable points heading into the Abu Dhabi finale. Fernando Alonso would also score a decent amount of points for Aston Martin, finishing in seventh.
Guanyu Zhou would finish in eighth position to deliver Sauber's first points of the season, also taking home the Driver of the Day award as voted for by the fans. Kevin Magnussen finished in ninth place after some impressive overtakes and Lando Norris completed the points-paying positions with a 10th place finish, scoring two points with that additional Fastest Lap point.
The battle for the Constructor's Championship between McLaren and Ferrari rages on to the finale in Abu Dhabi, McLaren hold a healthy 21-point lead.
F1 Qatar Grand Prix - Results
1st Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2nd Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3rd Oscar Piastri, McLaren
4th George Russell, Mercedes
5th Pierre Gasly, Alpine
6th Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
7th Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
8th Guanyu Zhou, Sauber
9th Kevin Magnussen, Haas
10th Lando Norris, McLaren
11th Valtteri Bottas, Sauber
12th Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
13th Yuki Tsunoda, RB
14th Liam Lawson, RB
15th Alex Albon, Williams
DNF Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
DNF Sergio Perez, Red Bull
DNF Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
DNF Esteban Ocon, Alpine
DNF Franco Colapinto, Williams
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