Piastri won the sprint race in Qatar, earning a championship point over Norris, who finished third. George Russell was squeezed between the two McLarens, while Max Verstappen had to settle for fourth, just ahead of Yuki Tsunoda. The two Ferraris performed poorly. The difficulties encountered in free practice, with both cars sliding heavily on the Losail asphalt, were not resolved. Leclerc finished 13th, while Hamilton was 17th.
The sprint race begins in Qatar: the starting grid flows smoothly
Stroll, Hamilton and Colapinto start from the pits, all the others they are ready on the grill The lights went out. Oscar Piastri got off to a good start, ahead of George Russell. The two Red Bulls, however, overtook Fernando Alonso, with Tsunoda already letting Verstappen pass at the fourth corner. By the end of the first lap, Verstappen was already behind Lando Norris, who was slightly behind Russell. The driver who lost the most positions at the start was Charles Leclerc, who dropped from ninth to thirteenth. Hamilton, however, found himself exiting the pits in eighteenth place.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen is being very aggressive towards Norris. At the start of the third lap, the four-time world champion attempted to overtake at Turn 1. The Englishman from McLaren, however, manages to defend himself on the straight thanks to DRS offered by Russell, who, however, is also trying to pull away and appears slightly faster than the number 4. Oscar Piastri, on the other hand, is managing the lead in the sprint race in Qatar.
Verstappen tries to make himself seen on Lando Norris
The fight for the world championship also depends on the outcome of this sprint race in QatarThe only one with nothing to lose, however, is Verstappen. He's the only one, in fact, trying to do something in what's shaping up to be a race with very little action on the track. In reality, however, the gaps at the front are widening. Piastri and Russell are 1.7 seconds behind on lap nine, while Russell and Norris are 2.0 seconds behind, with Norris also managing to get the better of Verstappen, still within two seconds. The Dutchman is likely paying the price in terms of tires for his haste in the early laps.
On lap ten, behind the top four, we find Tsunoda, followed by Alonso, Antonelli, and Carlos Sainz, who closes out the points. The two Ferraris' race is completely unremarkable. Hamilton remains in eighteenth place, one second and two tenths behind Lance Stroll. Leclerc, on the other hand, is literally rowing against his car. The Monegasque is struggling to attack Bearman's Haas. While chasing the Englishman, he made a mistake, ending up with his tires in the sand beyond the curb, leaving himself vulnerable to Lawson's Racing Bulls. The New Zealander completes the overtaking move on the number 16 Ferrari, but is forced to relinquish the position due to truck limits.
Penalty for Tsunoda, Antonelli moves up the rankings
Speaking of truck limits, Yuki Tsunoda received a five-second penalty for exceeding them more than three times. Antonelli, meanwhile, has overtaken Fernando Alonso and is currently in a virtual fifth place, given the Red Bull driver's penalty. It's also worth noting that Antonelli's overtaking of the Spaniard was his only move of the entire sprint race in Qatar. On lap seventeen, Lance Stroll set the fastest lap of the session. The Canadian, stuck in the back of the pack, pitted to run tests on soft tires.
The race unfolded over the final two laps without further drama. A sprint that, as every year, proved avoidable at the Losail circuit. Oscar Piastri thus returned to victory ahead of Russell, Norris, and Verstappen. Antonelli also received a track limit penalty and lost ground to Tsunoda. Alonso and Sainz rounded out the points. It was a disaster for Ferrari, however, with Leclerc finishing only thirteenth and Hamilton essentially driving the car at the back of the field for the entire race, finishing seventeenth.
