Written by Ria Ann Sam
Oscar Piastri wins the final sprint race in a thrilling fashion ahead of teammate Lando Norris after switching positions on the final lap.
The final sprint race of the 2024 F1 season took place in Qatar, and it was exciting from start to finish. Piastri won ahead of Norris after switching places on the final corner.
Sprint qualifying yesterday saw both McLaren's performing well, with Norris taking pole and Piastri on the second row behind Russel. On the other side, both Sergio Perez and Franco Colapinto would be starting from the pit lane after making some changes to their cars. Valtteri Bottas had a solid qualifying performance, making his way out of Q1.
The opening lap was great for Lando Norris who got off well. Unfortunately for Russel in second, he was overtaken by the other Papaya driver, however, his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton overtook Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
It was problems for the 2024 World Champion Max Verstappen who went wide and dropped three places to ninth. He finished the race in eighth.
However, it was Liam Lawson who struggled the most, dropping seven places on the opening lap. This is the Kiwi's second shot at the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint after DNFing last year, and once again he didn't make it into the top 10.
With 10 laps to go, the top four were in DRS range to each other, with Russel attempting to overtake Piastri for the entire race. Charles Leclerc was also in DRS range of his future teammate Lewis Hamilton and stayed right in his tail.
Zhou Guanyu was the first driver to pit after starting on soft tyres; he went onto the medium tyres in lap 12.
Leclerc overtook Hamilton beautifully on lap 13, though it could have ended in disaster as both drivers were wheel-to-wheel. George Russel looked to overtake Piastri once again but couldn't make it. Norris was told to slow down and "please help Oscar" on lap 15 for the Aussie's battle against Russel.
Perez pitted with five laps to go; perhaps Red Bull are trying out a new strategy ahead of the main race.
In a shocking turn of events, right at the end of the race, Norris allowed Piastri to go ahead, allowing the Aussie to take a win the Qatar Grand Prix for the second year running. This was not planned or team orders; he said he owed Piastri for the Brazil sprint.
Qatar Grand Prix Sprint Race Results:
Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 8 points
Lando Norris (McLaren) - 7 points
George Russel (Mercedes) - 6 points
Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) - 5 points
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 4 points
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 3 points
Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) - 2 points
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 1 point
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