Formula 1 Qatar GP
F1 Qatar GP: Oscar Piastri wins sprint to cut Lando Norris’ championship lead
Piastri wins Formula 1's Qatar Grand Prix sprint as Norris takes a point on Max Verstappen
Filip Cleeren
Edited: Nov 29, 2025, 11:08 PM
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McLaren's Oscar Piastri claimed a soulless Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix sprint win ahead of George Russell, with Lando Norris holding off Max Verstappen to take third.
The 19-lap sprint on Doha's twisty Losail circuit was decided at the start, with polesitter Piastri safeguarding his lead from Russell and Norris, while fourth-placed Fernando Alonso lost out to both Red Bulls of Yuki Tsunoda and Verstappen.
Tsunoda then left the door open for his title contending team-mate to swoop into fourth, as Verstappen set chase on Norris. But the reigning world champion soon started complaining of recurring bouncing and jumping issues, which also plagued him in sprint qualifying.
Either way, there was no chance for Verstappen to threaten Norris, as the dirty air on Doha's motorcycle track ensured that cars would all fall away from each other, and the lack of pitstops ensured they were nearly guaranteed to finish in the positions they held on lap 1.
The notable exception was Alonso, who made a mistake coming out of the final corner on lap 12 and saw Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli stream past into Turn 1, snatching away sixth.
Antonelli looked set to be promoted to fifth after a five-second track limits penalty for Tsunoda, but a late track limits penalty for the Italian rookie reversed that impending position change. Behind seventh-placed Alonso, Williams man Carlos Sainz claimed the final point in eighth, easily holding off Isack Hadjar and Alex Albon.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls Team
Photo by: Lars Baron / LAT Images via Getty Images
Charles Leclerc lost out by dropping from ninth to 13th early on, while Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton was one of four cars to start from the pitlane and was stuck in 17th.
After the sprint race, Norris now leads team-mate Piastri by 22 points, with Verstappen 25 points in arrears. It means that a grand prix win for Norris on Sunday would secure his maiden world title.
F1 Qatar GP - Sprint race results
SPRINT
All Stats
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval km/h Pits Points Retirement Chassis Engine 1 O. Piastri McLaren 81
19
-
8 McLaren Mercedes 2 G. Russell Mercedes 63
19
+4.951
4.951
4.951 7 Mercedes Mercedes 3 L. Norris McLaren 4
19
+6.279
6.279
1.328 6 McLaren Mercedes 4 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1
19
+9.054
9.054
2.775 5 Red Bull Red Bull 5 Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing 22
19
+19.327
19.327
10.273 4 Red Bull Red Bull 6
A. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes
12 
19
+21.391
21.391
2.064 3 Mercedes Mercedes 7 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14
19
+24.556
24.556
3.165 2 Aston Martin Mercedes 8 C. Sainz Williams 55
19
+27.333
27.333
2.777 1 Williams Mercedes 9 I. Hadjar Racing Bulls 6
19
+28.206
28.206
0.873 RB Honda 10 A. Albon Williams 23
19
+28.925
28.925
0.719 Williams Mercedes 11 G. Bortoleto Sauber 5
19
+32.966
32.966
4.041 Sauber Ferrari 12 O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87
19
+34.529
34.529
1.563 Haas Ferrari 13 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16
19
+35.182
35.182
0.653 Ferrari Ferrari 14 L. Lawson Racing Bulls 30
19
+36.916
36.916
1.734 RB Honda 15 E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31
19
+38.838
38.838
1.922 Haas Ferrari 16 N. Hulkenberg Sauber 27
19
+39.638
39.638
0.800 Sauber Ferrari 17 L. Hamilton Ferrari 44
19
+46.171
46.171
6.533 Ferrari Ferrari 18 P. Gasly Alpine 10
19
+1'09.534
1'09.534
23.363 1 Alpine Renault 19 L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18
19
+1'17.960
1'17.960
8.426 1 Aston Martin Mercedes 20 F. Colapinto Alpine 43
19
+1'20.804
1'20.804
2.844 1 Alpine Renault View full results
Photos from Qatar GP - Sprint Race
Qatar GP - Saturday, in photos
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Qatar GP - Saturday, in photos
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