The final Sprint Weekend of 2025 unfolded in Qatar with just 24 points separating the three title contenders heading into the penultimate round of the season. Leaving Qatar, Max Verstappen had closed the gap to Norris to just 12 points with Piastri a further four behind him. Here’s how it all unfolded.
The Chronicle Headlines
- Oscar Piastri set the fastest time in the sole practice session for the weekend in Qatar.
- Oscar Piastri dominated the final Sprint Race of 2025, ahead of George Russell and Lando Norris.
- Oscar Piastri claimed his first Pole Position since Zandvoort.
- Max Verstappen snatched victory away from McLaren in the Grand Prix with Oscar Piastri in second and Carlos Sainz in an impressive third.
- Lando Norris would have to settle for fourth.
- Max Verstappen is now just twelve points away from Norris heading to Abu Dhabi with Piastri a further four points back.
Free Practice
With the final Sprint Weekend of the 2025 Season unfolding in Qatar, teams and drivers had only a single practice session to get to grips with the Lusail International Circuit. Following their double DSQ in Las Vegas, McLaren were keen to bounce back quickly in Qatar. Part I of that plan was successful with both Papaya cars at the top of Friday’s timesheet. Oscar Piastri led the way, 0.058 seconds ahead of Lando Norris.
Fernando Alonso was 0.386 seconds behind Piastri in third, giving Aston Martin a glimmer of hope at the start of the weekend. Sainz and Hadjar rounded out the top five for Williams and Racing Bulls respectively.
“Last year I didn’t really know if I was going to F1, and now I know I’ll be on the grid next year.” – Isack Hadjar
Tyre Wars – Battle of Attrition
The quickest times of the session came towards the end as teams switched over to the soft tyres for qualifying simulations. Prior to that, practice had been all about getting used to the hard tyres and how far they could be pushed. Ahead of the weekend, Pirelli and the FIA had ruled that the tyres could not do more than 25 laps before needing to be changed. At a circuit where tyre blowouts have occurred before and with the Championship still very much of up for grabs, practice in Qatar may never have been more important.
Both McLarens and both Alpine drivers, along with the likes of Leclerc, Hamilton and Verstappen were all seen pushing hard. Each went off track at various points, competing with one another to see who could kick up the largest cloud of dust. The heat was well and truly on and the pressure for the weekend had been turned up.
The Sprint – Piastri Dominates
Oscar Piastri followed up his Sprint Race Pole with a dominant victory in the 19 lap contest. Untroubled throughout by those behind, the Australian appeared to have had a return to form from earlier in the season. George Russell finished in second with Lando Norris in third.
Max Verstappen raced Norris hard in the opening stages of the Sprint. But the Dutchman would have to drop back to make his tyres last. He finished in fourth after starting in sixth. Teammate Yuki Tsunoda had his highest finish in either a Sprint or Grand Prix in 2025 by coming across the line in fifth.
Antonelli, Alonso and Sainz rounded out the top eight. Ferrari’s dismal weekend continued with Leclerc in P13 and Hamilton in P17 after starting from the pitlane.
Qualifying in Qatar – Piastri Marches Forward
Ferrari’s woes would carry over into qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Hamilton was knocked out in Q1, down in P18. But the seven time World Champion would begin in P17 after Bortoleto’s five place penalty (courtesy of his antics in Las Vegas) was applied to the Brazilian. Colapinto, Stroll, Ocon and Tsunoda were also eliminated in Q1.
Q2 saw Albon, Bortoleto, Bearman, Lawson and Hulkenberg culled from the herd. Leclerc and Gasly were the two drivers most at risk but both were just able to put in a quick enough lap time to make it into Q3.
The battle for Pole looked set to be tight until the very end of the session. But on what would have been his final push lap, Lando Norris tackled T2 in a squirrelly fashion and was forced to abandon the lap. Oscar Piastri had no such issues and proceeded to do what was needed to claim his six pole position of the season.
Norris would finish in P2 with Verstappen third, Russell fourth and Antonelli fifth. Hadjar, Sainz, Alonso, Gasly and Leclerc made up the rest of the top ten.
The Grand Prix – Verstappen Strikes Back
Last time out in Las Vegas, Max Verstappen snatched victory away from Lando Norris. This time out in Qatar, Verstappen would do the same – but to the other McLaren driver of Oscar Piastri. One of the key moments of the race that led to this was thanks to an early Safety Car brought out when Hulkenberg and Gasly came together at the exit of T1. The former crashed out as a result – his second DNF in the last four races.
“It was a decision not to pit. We did not expect everyone else to pit. When you are the lead car, you do not know what everyone else will do.” – Andrea Stella, McLaren Team Principal
At this moment, every car bar the two McLaren drivers opted for an early pit stop. The thinking behind this from the Papaya Team was that they would be more flexible when it came to strategy later in the race – thanks in part to Pirelli’s aforementioned 25 lap tyre rule. Piastri and Norris would now have to pit on Lap 25 at the latest for their first stop. Everyone else meanwhile would have to pit on Lap 32 at the latest for their final mandatory stop. But that would still leave both McLarens vulnerable with another pit stop for them both to make. The game was afoot.
Slow Burn to The End
The race settled down upon the restart with Sainz and Antonelli the only real outliers that could impact the top three. Everyone else was stuck in a DRS train behind Alonso in P7. An uncharacteristic spin by the Spaniard would drop him a couple of places but he saved it in style to continue on as if nothing had happened. Hadjar then sustained a puncture in the closing stages of the Grand Prix. This sent him tumbling down the order and ultimately out of the race.
Meanwhile out in front, Verstappen closed in on Norris just before the McLaren driver had to pit for a second time. Piastri pitted before him for hard tyres and was then able to begin hunting down Verstappen for the lead. Norris however came out behind both Sainz and Antonelli and struggled massively to make an impression on the Mercedes driver.
Down to the Wire
It was close but no cigar for Piastri in the end. The Aussie simply wasn’t able to bridge the gap between himself and Verstappen. The Red Bull driver won the Grand Prix with a comfortable 7.9 second gap back to Piastri in second. It marks his seventh Grand Prix victory of the season, equal now with both Norris and Piastri. It was a brilliant win by both Verstappen and Red Bull with a superb strategy from Hannah Schmitz.
“Feeling pretty ***** as you can imagine. The pace was strong and I didn’t put a foot wrong. I left it in the team’s hands to decide what to do as they have more information than I do. I just need to drive like I did this weekend, that was more than enough to dominate this weekend.” – Oscar Piastri
Antonelli went wide briefly, thus gifting Norris P4 on the penultimate lap of the race. But Norris still couldn’t do anything to catch the Williams driver ahead of him. This ensured that Sainz sealed his second podium of the year on merit ahead of the McLaren driver. With that result, Williams have now also secured P5 in the Constructor’s Championship with one race to spare.
“I’m so proud of the whole team, we came into this weekend thinking it was going to be the toughest weekend of the year and came out with a podium. Nailed the strategy, nailed the start – we got everything right today.” – Carlos Sainz
Russell, Alonso, Leclerc, Lawson and Tsunoda would round out the top ten.
Formula 1 – Qatar Grand Prix 2025
On the weekend where Lando Norris needed to win to wrap up the Championship, he couldn’t even get onto the podium. What’s more, both of his title rivals gained on him with Verstappen now twelve points behind him and Piastri sixteen. It will be the first time since 2010 that the Championship battle will go down to the final race with more than two drivers in contention.
“Well, it’s all possible now.” – Max Verstappen
For Verstappen, what once seemed impossible is now within reach. The Red Bull Driver has nothing to lose as he attempts to take his fifth straight driver’s title. For Piastri, the ultimate shot at redemption is also possible, but he’ll need some good luck to come his way. As for Norris, what looked so certain two weeks ago is now massively under threat; the chance for a first world title may be about to slip through his fingers.
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Formula 1 returns December 5th for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Feature Image: Red Bull Content Pool