F1: Verstappen holds off McLarens to win Qatar GP

World Driving Champion Max Verstappen drove a perfect race from pole position to win the Qatar GP F1 race over Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Verstappen took the lead at the start and lost it for only 1 lap during the first round of pitstops.

Verstappen won by only 4.833s over #81 Piastri and 5.969s over the #4 McLaren Lando Norris for his 14th win of the year, and he set the fastest lap on the next to last lap for the extra point.

Looking in better shape physically than all his competitors on an extremely hot desert night, it was Verstappen’s 49th career victory, but he is not done yet.

Piastri was lying on the floor in the cooldown room from heat exhaustion as Verstappen joked “does anyone have a wheelchair?”

“What made the race was my first stint, after that, I could manage my pace,” said Verstappen.

“We’ll enjoy a little bit, but there are still a few races to go that I want to win. ”

The McLarens were not far behind Verstappen, as the McLarens continue to close the gap to the Red Bull because they have far more wind tunnel development hours than Red Bull.

“Really impressive pace, definitely the hardest race I’ve ever had in my life,” said Piastri. “With the three stops, it was basically flat out, so it was 57 qualifying laps. It was intense.”

“Good start, good pace throughout the whole thing. I’m happy, stressful, hot, sweaty, a little bit tired,” said Norris

“Also a 1.8s pit stop by the boys. One of the hardest races I’ve done in a way, but it was a fun challenge.”

George Russell came home 4th after his teammate Lewis Hamilton ran into him in Turn 1 and taking out himself and forcing Russell to the pits.

Charles Leclerc rounded out the top-5 for Ferrari, almost 39 seconds behind as all the drivers struggled with heat exhaustion.

Fernando Alonso will see the Race Stewards after the race for an unsafe track reentry, but came home 6th for now.

Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez rounded out the top-10.

Perez made the points despite starting from the pit lane due to major car changes in the wake of his Sprint race accident, and an action-packed evening that saw him pick up three penalties for exceeding track limits.

American Logan Sargeant had to park his Williams early as he nearly passed out from heat exhaustion – his disastrous season continues.

With three stops made mandatory by the FIA over tire concerns, the race was an up and down affair throughout as teams used different strategies.

Ahead of the race, the FIA, in response to issues seen with Pirelli’s tires earlier in the weekend, ruled that teams could complete no more than 18 laps on any set of tires and across the 57 laps, that meant a minimum of three pit stops.

There were track limit penalties galore too, so a few drivers might think about what might have been. Stroll, Gasly and Albon all finished outside the points, and all picked up time penalties tonight.

Race Results – 57 Laps