Piastri closes in on Norris with Qatar GP sprint win
Piastri boosted his championship hopes with a straightforward victory from Russell and Norris
McLaren
Oscar Piastri boosted his slim Formula 1 title chances with a comfortable victory in the Qatar Grand Prix sprint.
The McLaren driver started from pole and controlled a very straightforward race from the front, the Australian never challenged by George Russell, who finished second ahead of championship leader Lando Norris.
The order up front – and pretty much all throughout the field – was settled on the opening lap, the 19-lap contest proving, for the most part, a processional event.
Max Verstappen had to settle for fourth place, his deficit to Norris in the championship now up to 25 points.
Piastri, meanwhile, is now 22 points behind his team-mate ahead of tomorrow’s main race.
Piastri made a perfect start from pole and easily managed to keep the lead from Russell and Norris, as Verstappen gained a place by passing team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.
Verstappen had initially put Norris under pressure, but started to lose ground as he complained about the excessive bouncing of his car, a problem he had also suffered on Friday.
Tsunoda finished behind Verstappen in fifth but dropped to sixth as a result of a five-second penalty for a track limits offence.
Kimi Antonelli benefitted from the penalty to move up to fifth in the second Mercedes, having gained a position thanks to Fernando Alonso going off on lap 13.
The Aston Martin driver wound up seventh ahead of Williams driver Carlos Sainz, who completed the points-paying positions in eighth.
Four drivers – Lance Stroll, Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto started the race from the pitlane after breaching parc fermé rules to make changes to their cars.