Piastri the biggest loser in McLaren misstep - Qatar GP takeaways

The Qatar Grand Prix, the penultimate race of a rollercoaster Formula 1 season, was supposed to clarify the title fight, but instead it twisted the narrative into its most intriguing shape yet.

As the grand prix circus heads to Abu Dhabi for the finale, the spotlight is now firmly fixed on Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, the Dutchman having edged even closer to a historic comeback after winning at Lusail.

Meanwhile, the driver who truly walked away from Qatar feeling the sharpest sting of disappointment was Oscar Piastri, as a cruel combination of circumstance and strategy meant his title hopes now require his rivals to have a dismal weekend in Abu Dhabi.

Here we explore the main storylines from the Qatar weekend.

McLaren blunder cost Piastri a lot more

Piastri left Qatar knowing he was the weekend’s biggest loser – not because of any glaring mistake, but because he spent three days looking like the quickest driver and somehow left with his title hopes hanging by a thread.

While the narrative will inevitably centre on Norris versus Verstappen going into Abu Dhabi, the driver who truly saw his championship prospects evaporate under the Lusail floodlights was Piastri.

From the opening laps of practice through qualifying and the sprint, Piastri looked like the McLaren driver most in rhythm with the circuit. His long-run numbers were the most convincing of the trio in the title fight.

After many weekends in which Piastri was the weakest link within McLaren, the Australian was back to his best in Qatar.

It is no wonder he looked broken after Sunday’s race: nothing about his result reflects how strong his underlying pace actually was.

Where Norris leaves Qatar still in control of the standings, Piastri departs aware that, had things gone his way, he could still have a real shot at the title.

After winning the sprint and controlling Sunday’s race for seven laps, the Australian had the opportunity to redefine the title battle. Instead, he now enters the finale needing a major miracle.

Verstappen continues epic fightback

Let’s be realistic here: Verstappen had no business being in the title 2025 fight, let alone managing to take the battle to the wire after one of the most unlikely wins of the season in Qatar.

The world champion was 104 points behind Piastri just eight GP weekends earlier and, for the most part, has had an inferior car to that of his McLaren rivals.

Looking at how the season has developed, particularly since the summer break ended, it is no exaggeration to say that Verstappen would be the only deserving champion this year, as harsh as that might sound to Norris and Piastri.

Of course, that’s not the reality of F1, where machinery is so often the biggest factor in how championships are decided.

Verstappen still needs another McLaren blunder in Abu Dhabi to complete the job, but even if he falls short, his late-year surge invites a broader question: Does thye Dutchman belong in the same breath as the most remarkable comebacks across the sporting world?

The numbers alone are striking. Red Bull has been a rather fragmented team this year, and has given Verstappen an unsettled car, but it has all been somehow anchored by his execution, as was the case again in Qatar.

To frame what this could mean, you can reach for examples beyond this championship: Liverpool clawing back from 3-0 down at half-time in Istanbul; Rafael Nadal’s Australian Open miracle against Daniil Medvedev in 2022 after months of injury; Tiger Woods returning from personal and physical collapse to win the 2019 Masters; the New England Patriots overturning a 28-3 deficit in Super Bowl LI.

If Verstappen were to overturn this points gap in machinery that has rarely been the class of the field, it would elevate his season into the realm of those legendary revivals.

Tsunoda’s ‘standout’ weekend comes too late

Yuki Tsunoda delivered one of his strongest weekends of the year in Qatar, demonstrating speed and composure that he had too rarely shown in 2025.

The Japanese driver managed the feat of outqualifying Verstappen for the sprint and completed a double-points finish, having finished fifth in the sprint and 10th in the race.

It wasn’t an incredible performance by any means, but it showed some progress compared to previous outings.

But timing is everything, and for Tsunoda, Qatar’s highlight may have come painfully late.

Multiple sources now indicate that Isack Hadjar is expected to take the seat and that Tsunoda will be left without a drive in 2026.

For Tsunoda, the Qatar weekend will be a bittersweet reminder of what might have been had he managed to consistently finish in the points in many of the races leading to Lusail.

2026 Ferrari will need to be great

Saying that Qatar was another weekend to forget for Ferrari might be an understatement.

Once again, the Scuderia failed to extract any pace from its package, leaving Charles Leclerc with “no words” even after he managed to avoid a point-less weekend with an eighth-place finish on Sunday.

Ferrari is now set to finish fourth in the standings, having held second for some time before things started to go really south.

Its current form raises the thorny question of whether Ferrari gave up on 2025 too early. The car was competitive enough to challenge for podiums earlier, yet development momentum seemed to stall midway through the season.

Now, after such a disastrous year, the pressure is on the 2026 car to justify the strategic gamble.

Qatar was a bitter reminder of Ferrari’s current reality, and the team will now face intense scrutiny as the off-season looms, tasked with delivering a car that can not only compete but be a championship challenger in 2026.

Qatar highlighted once more that success next year will be necessary to vindicate every decision made in the final months of 2025.

Sainz’s proudest day with Williams

Carlos Sainz called the Qatar GP his “proudest day in Williams,” and it was hard to disagree.

His Sunday podium – only the team’s second of the season – wasn’t a fluke, nor the product of chaos. It was the culmination of a second half of the year in which the Spaniard has transformed himself from an early-season struggler to become a genuine late-season disruptor.

Sainz, with his methodical approach and ability to extract performance under pressure, has been the perfect driver to capitalise on Williams’ solid package, and Qatar showcased all of his traits: a clean qualifying and a cleverly measured race.

Granted, Sainz’s podium was enabled by McLaren’s strategy misstep and Norris’s lack of pace, but his performance still showcased his composure.

Williams hadn’t scored two podium finishes in the same season since 2015, and the result finally secured fifth spot in the standings for the Grove team.

Perhaps more significantly, Sainz’s second half of the season has left him – and Williams – in no doubt that if the team manages to produce a strong car for 2026, becoming a contender near the front of the field isn’t out of the question.