Another Sunday at the office for Max Verstappen. Deprived of victory on Saturday in the sprint (2nd) by Oscar Piastri but still crowned triple world champion, the Dutchman reigned supreme at the Qatar GP on Sunday to take the 13th win of the season and the 48th of his career. The McLarens, as in Japan, completed the podium with Oscar Piastri's second place and Lando Norris' third.
To discover
- Formula 1: drivers' standings
- Formula 1: the calendar of the season
Mercedes hang on at the start
If there was a lack of suspense regarding the winner, the Qatar GP delivered its share of animations. An hour before the race, Carlos Sainz withdrew due to a fuel leak. First adventure. Another came minutes before the start with F1 manufacturer Pirelli ordering only 18 laps on the tyres, following micro-cracks in the tyres on Friday and Saturday, forcing drivers to make at least three stops. Some then dared to make a move, such as Lewis Hamilton, third on the grid, who opted for the softs at the start. Aggressive from the start, the seven-time world champion tried to overtake George Russell on the outside at Turn 1 but harpooned his Mercedes team-mate and ended up in the gravel trap.
Read alsoFormula 1: the two Mercedes collide in the first corner, Hamilton forced to retire (video)
The safety car was then deployed to calm everyone down. Russell started far back but was able to climb back to the foot of the podium with some great overtaking (4th). At the front, Verstappen quickly escaped to end any suspense. After a while on the pace during the first stint, Piastri let go of some weight in order to concentrate on the podium and the battle with Lando Norris, his teammate, finally prevented by McLaren, already satisfied with this double podium as in Japan.
Les Bleus in the points
Behind him, Charles Leclerc had a more or less anonymous race (5th). The surprise came from the Alfa Romeos and more particularly from Valtteri Bottas, who was an astonishing 8th at the wheel of a single-seater that has struggled this year. Zhou Guanyu takes the point in tenth place Finally, Esteban Ocon took seventh place. The only Alpine in the points as Pierre Gasly (12th) was twice penalised by five seconds. Now it's off to the Americas with a triptych of the United States – Mexico – Brazil in two weeks' time.