the qatar grand prix

Hello and welcome to the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix, the first possibility of two for a WDC winner to be decided. Oscar Piastri, 2nd in the running for the championship, sits on Pole Position. After a perfect weekend so far, Sprint Pole, the Sprint win, and now pole position, a win for the Aussie would seriously help him in the battle for the WDC. His teammate, Lando Norris, our current WDC leader, starts the race right behind his teammate in second.

the grid

Here is your starting grid for the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
Lando Norris (McLaren)
Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
George Russell (Mercedes)
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
Carlos Sainz (Williams)
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
Oliver Bearman (Haas)
Alex Albon (Williams)
Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
Esteban Ocon (Haas)
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
Franco Colapinto (Alpine) (Pit Lane)

the race

57 laps under the floodlights commence! It’s lights out and away we go! Oscar got the launch off the line he needed, but the same doesn’t go for Lando, who was already dealing with Max Verstappen behind! Max went around the outside during turn one and claimed 2nd from Lando, talk about wasting no time! This was quite the important move for the four-time world champion. Being in third for the WDC, he had to finish above Lando to stay in the battle. Much like Lando, Mercedes driver George Russell had already been overtaken, three times! This was not the Brit’s night so far. But, while George lost three positions, Lewis Hamilton, who started the race in 17th position, had gained three positions!

In lap two, Nico Hulkenberg, who secured his first podium this season in Silverstone, made a late breaking move on the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton.

In lap 7, Nico attempted to continue his passing streak with Pierre Gasly. But, instead of smoothly passing the Frenchman like Nico tries to do, he ended up hitting the Alpine, which sent him spinning off the track. Nico, unfortunately, had to retire the car. Pierre continued down the track, but a puncture due to the collision forced him to stay at the bottom of the grid. Safety Car deployed.

1 lap later, still under the watchful eyes of the Safety car, Max Verstappen decided it’s a good idea to pit for new tires! He wasn’t the only one to do so though. After Max exited the track and entered the pit lane, a steady stream of every single car behind him also headed into the pit lane, causing absolute chaos! Having both cars on the same team want to change their tires at the exact same time is very stressful, considering the fact that cars can be overtaken while in the pit lane by drivers who have faster pit stops. This happening is extremely rare in this sport, because every team has a different strategy, but in this moment, everyone unanimously agreed that a pit stop had to be made, everyone except for McLaren.

The Constructors Champions decided that even though everyone was pitting, they were going to keep Oscar and Lando out. Lando questioned this strategy over his intercom, asking, “We should’ve just followed him (Max) in, no? If we knew the car ahead was staying out.” Will Joseph, Mclaren’s race engineer, replied, “They have lost all of their flexibility for the remainder of the race.” Considering that McLaren had both of their drivers still in contention for the Championship title, staying out while everyone behind Lando and Oscar pitted, giving the 18 other drivers a fresher tire advantage over the Papaya pair, this seems like not the smartest idea for the team! Especially when the car closest behind is Max Verstappen.

In lap 11, the Safety Car ended, sending the drivers racing around the track at full speed yet again! Oscar held onto first and Lando followed in second, but Max was slowly creeping up!

Finally, in lap 25, Oscar made his way into the pit lane. Lando immediately took the lead. The McLaren pit crew executed the pit stop, so when Oscar regained his place on the track, he was only in fifth.

One lap later, Lando got the call to take his turn in the pit lane. A 2.2 second pit helped Lando come out in fifth, which bumped Oscar up to fourth. Max to first!

In lap 30, Oscar received DRS to pass the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli for 3rd. He smoothly did so! Oscar to third.

2 laps later, Max headed back into the pit lane to take his second pit of the race. With Carlos Sainz 18 seconds behind in second place, Max wasn’t too worried about anyone passing him. Not until Carlos also headed into the pit lane, which sent Oscar back to first! The Dutchman rejoined in third place.

Oliver Bearman headed into the pit lane along with many other drivers, but the Haas pit crew wasn’t as efficient as the Red Bull team! They let Ollie go before one of his rear tires was even attached to the car! This landed the Briton a 10 second time penalty by race control.

In lap 42, Fernando briefly retired as a racer to take up a part time job as a professional ballerina! He pirouetted in the middle of the track and was overtaken by two cars, but he regained his composure and continues down the track.

1 lap later, Oscar Piastri was called into the pit lane yet again, in which the tires put on were a pair of hards. At this point in the race, the fastest tire would be a soft, but clearly McLaren was feeling rebellious in Qatar! Oscar exited the pit lane in third, right behind Max Verstappen.

In lap 45, Lando was called into the pit lane to change his tires for the final laps of the race. As Max took the lead, Lando regained track position in fifth place.

With two laps left, Isack Hadjar got a puncture in his tire, forcing him to drop to the bottom of the grid so close to the finish line.

In lap 57, the last lap of the race, Lando Norris put quite a lot of pressure onto the Mercedes rookie of Kimi Antonelli in 4th place. Clearly flustered by having the championship leader in his rearview mirror, Kimi made a small mistake which allowed Lando to get past and claim 4th position. Lando to fourth!

Max Verstappen wins the Qatar Grand Prix! What a race from the Red Bull driver. This feat proves Max’s point even further that he cannot and will not be taken out of consideration for the WDC title! Oscar Piastri finished in second, followed by the ‘Smooth Operator’ Carlos Sainz in third! This is the second podium Carlos achieved this year with Williams!

Race results

The top ten finishers of the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix

Max Verstappen (Red Bull) (1)
Oscar Piastri (McLaren) (81)
Carlos Sainz (Williams) (55)
Lando Norris (McLaren) (4)
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) (12)
George Russell (Mercedes) (63)
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) (14)
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) (16)
Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) (30)
Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) (22)

It has been 15 years since 3 drivers were still in contention going into the final race of the year. This is sure to be the ultimate showdown! I’ll see you in Abu Dhabi!

The Formula 1 edit