By Ben Langley
Piastri wins an uneventful Sprint to narrow gap to Norris, with Verstappen lagging behind.
Oscar Piastri dominated the Qatar Sprint to win his first race format in nearly three months and narrow the gap to 22 points between himself and teammate Lando Norris.
George Russell finished 2nd with Norris holding off Verstappen to finish 3rd. Verstappen’s 4th-place finish leaves him 25 points behind Norris, and must beat the Brit in the Grand Prix to remain in championship contention.
Track limits drama saw Yuki Tsunoda finish 5th ahead of Kimi Antonelli, with both drivers receiving five-second penalties for the same violations. Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz completed the points positions in a Sprint lacking in on-track action.
Piastri held the lead from the start with ease ahead of Russell. Tsunoda had the strongest start and nearly got ahead of Norris. However, the Japanese driver couldn’t overtake and let Verstappen through shortly after.
Verstappen looked a threat to Norris in the early stages but was once again complaining about the bouncing of his Red Bull. He would ultimately finish several seconds behind the championship leader.
Tsunoda’s strong weekend so far was dented after receiving a five-second penalty for track limit violations. He looked set to drop behind Antonelli, but the Italian himself received the same penalty and so finished in 6th behind Tsunoda.
Ferrari had another miserable encounter with Charles Leclerc finishing 13th after starting 9th, whereas Lewis Hamilton came home in a lowly 17th. Leclerc struggled with the handling of his car, as he went off track numerous times. Liam Lawson nearly capitalised but overtook the Monegasque off track and was forced to give back the position.
Piastri’s strong start to the weekend brings much anticipation to a crucial qualifying session later.
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