Verstappen takes dominant victory to remain in title fight after McLaren's costly strategy blunder

Max Verstappen cruised to victory at the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix ahead of Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz, in a dramatic race that was re-written by a costly, championship-defining call from McLaren to stay out under a Safety Car that saw the rest of the grid pit. The results see the 2025 Drivers' title head to the final round with a three-way battle.

Max Verstappen takes his 70th career victory to force a title decider in Abu Dhabi | Credit: Formula One

The penultimate Grand Prix of the 2025 season was hosted by Qatar at the Lusail International Circuit, after an intense qualifying session that saw a rejuvenated Oscar Piastri clinch pole ahead of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.

Verstappen took a controlled victory after capitalising on McLaren's call to let their drivers stay out under an early Safety Car, while the entire grid barring the Papaya pair took the opportunity to check off the first of the two mandatory pit stops. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz took a second podium with Williams.

We now head to Abu Dhabi with a three-way title fight on our hands spread out by 16 points, with Verstappen just 12 points away from the championship leader Norris, as Piastri slips down to third.

Here’s how a high-pressure 2025 Qatar Grand Prix panned out.

Race Report

With the top 10 all on mediums, Piastri led off the Qatar Grand Prix to one of the most highly anticipated race starts in recent memory.

Piastri had a solid launch, while behind, Verstappen made light work of Norris to jump up to second, crucially keeping his championship bid alive as it stood. For the Red Bull driver to remain in the title conversation, he had to finish at least of Norris, which this move guaranteed.

Right behind the top three, Russell lost positions and dropped to seventh, while his former teammate Lewis Hamilton made up three positions to 14th on the soft tyres.  

At the end of the first lap, the cars remained tidy, led by Piastri followed by Verstappen, Norris, Kimi Antonelli, Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Russell, Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly.

At the head of the field, Piastri began pulling away from Verstappen, while the Dutchman complained over the radio of uneven balance.

Meanwhile, Gasly was given a black and white flag for rejoining the track unsafely at Turn 14, and was also carrying damage on the floor of his car, the underside sparking ominously. 

Gasly carried on, battling Nico Hülkenberg for the final point Hülkenberg, when the Sauber driver made contact with Gasly around the outside of Turn 2, taking Hülkenberg out of the race.

Credit: Formula One

In a race-defining moment, a Safety Car was immediately necessitated with Gasly trundling across the track too, spurring the entire field to pit barring Piastri and Norris. 

With everyone having checked off one of their mandatory pit stops, this was shaping up to be an incredibly costly strategy decision from the McLaren pit wall in the championship context.

Effectively, with the decision to stay out under the Safety Car, the McLaren pair would be making an extra pit stop compared to the rest of the field.

As all the cars peeled out of the pits behind the Safety Car, Esteban Ocon after serving a five-second time penalty for a false start, the McLaren drivers were encouraged to build a gap as much as possible at the green flag.

The message was loud and clear for both Piastri and Norris. For the Australian, push hard. For the championship leader: “Reminder, get close.”

Verstappen for his part was warned of McLaren’s intent to build that gap.

Piastri took the field back to racing on Lap 11, with the top five now our race leader, Norris, Verstappen, Sainz and Antonelli. Piastri had a firm getaway just as he needed, while Verstappen was unable to jump Norris at the restart.

On Lap 15, the gap between the race leader and Norris was 2.2 seconds, with Verstappen a further 4.3 seconds behind.

Further down the order, a lengthy DRS (Drag Reduction System) train had formed behind Alonso in fourth down to Albon in 13th, the Williams driver later flagged for track limits with a black and white flag.

As the race circulated on, the gaps at the head of the field remained static, but Verstappen was easily matching the McLarens for pace.

As the race approached the 25-lap limit, Piastri complained that his front-left had begun to wear off, while Norris too complained that he was struggling. At this stage, it was shaping up to be a podium at best for Piastri and Norris.

Both McLarens' race came undone with the decision to stay out during the Safety Car while the rest of the grid finished the first of their two mandatory stops | Credit: Formula One

On Lap 24, Piastri peeled into the pits for his first of two mandated stops, while his teammate followed through on the next lap.

Crucially for Piastri and Norris, both drivers came out ahead of Alonso and the DRS train he was steering.

Verstappen was now in control of the race, with Sainz and Antonelli occupied second and third.

Meanwhile, Stroll was noted for speeding in the pit lane, collecting a five-second time penalty while at the bottom end of the field.

On Lap 30, Piastri made the move on Antonelli for third, while Norris remained stuck behind the Mercedes driver.

Another Mercedes driver on the defence was Russell against Leclerc for eighth, with the Ferrari driver coming on the radio urging his team to check for Russell’s track limits at Turn 10. On Lap 33, Verstappen took his final stop of the night, bolting on the hard compound. 

Behind the Red Bull driver, it was absolute melee in the pit lane, as everyone who’d stopped under the Safety Car also ticked off their second mandatory stop.

Bearman’s race came undone in the pits with an unsafe release, the Haas driver plummeting from points contention to 18th and getting an added 10-second stop-and-go penalty. The Haas driver then returned to the pits as the second retirement of the race.

The top three was reinstated to Piastri followed by Norris and Verstappen. The gap between Piastri and Norris was 4.5 seconds, while Verstappen was informed that he was on the more robust compound compared to the McLaren pair. 

The radio waves continued to be busy, as Norris appealed for his team to check the car for damage, evident by the gap suddenly dropping between Norris and Verstappen. 

Over on Piastri’s side, the Australian was questioning whether they were hoping for another Safety Car for the second stop, or whether they can be expected to beat Verstappen on pure pace.

By Lap 40, the Dutchman meanwhile was doing everything right in order to take the title fight to Abu Dhabi. 

The next lap, Piastri was in conversation with his team again, calling the shots for the softs. The Australian was clearly pushing to the extreme, dancing over the kerbs, when in a sudden change of strategy, Piastri took his pit stop on Lap 43 and opted for the hard tyres instead.

As it stood, Norris was the only driver to pit, a podium too on the fence for the championship leader. Norris’ wait for his final stop ended on Lap 45, while ahead, Verstappen was promoted to the lead.

Norris rejoined the track in fifth, behind Antonelli and Sainz ahead, while the defending champion gunning for a fifth consecutive title was given the green light: “Free to push.”

Sainz in third also wanted to be given the go ahead to push, aiming for a second podium with Williams, while for Piastri ahead, he was faced with the task of slicing down a 14-second gap to Verstappen in under 10 laps.

With seven laps to go, Norris remained held up by Antonelli in fourth, while Verstappen was cruising ahead with 12 seconds as buffer to Piastri.

Sainz, ever the analytical driver, swiftly took control of his race and began to open up the gap to Norris, but then dramatically reported an issue with understeer and potential damage, but was able to nurse it home. Behind the Williams driver, Antonelli continued to prove hard to overtake for Norris. 

Between the race leader and Piastri, the gap remained static with just four laps to go. On Lap 56, Verstappen was perfectly at home in the lead, when junior team driver Hadjar suffered a puncture and dropped down from the points after 22 laps on the hard tyres.

On the final lap, Norris managed to get past Antonelli after the Mercedes driver drifted off the racing line, while up the road, Verstappen sailed to a 70th career victory.

Piastri and Sainz completed the podium, followed by Norris, Antonelli, Russell, Alonso, Leclerc, Lawson and Tsunoda to round out the points.

Full results can be found here.

Championship Standings

The results of the Qatar Grand Prix mean that we now officially have a three-way fight down to the wire for the season finale in Abu Dhabi, with 16 points covering the championship protagonists.

Verstappen's victory and Norris' P4 means that just 12 points separate the championship leader from the Dutchman, while Piastri drops to third, four points behind Verstappen.

It's anyone's game at the season finale.

As for the Constructors' side of things, 33 points separate Mercedes in second from Red Bull in third and Ferrari find themselves in no man's land with fourth place. In the mid-field, Williams steer clear of the rest, boosted by Sainz's podium, while Racing Bulls lead from Aston Martin by 12 points.

Key Quotes

Verstappen was no doubt the happiest man on the grid, taking a victory and extending his title campaign after a weekend riddled with car instability issues.

A delightful Dutchman shared: "An incredible race for us, we made the right call to box under that Safety Car. A strong race for us on a weekend that was tough.

[When McLaren did not pit] I was like 'that is an interesting move."

Reacting to this championship-deciding decision, Piastri offered: "Clearly we did not get it right tonight. I drove as fast as I could but wasn't to be.

"In hindsight it is pretty obvious what we should have done, but we'll discuss that as a team. A little bit tough to swallow at the moment."

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella added: "It was a decision not to pit. We did not expect everyone else to pit. When you are the lead car, you do not know what everyone else will do."

Up Next

It’s down to the final showdown in Abu Dhabi for a title decider to round out the current ground effect era from 5th to 7th December. Just 16 points cover the title contenders, and it's full steam ahead for the three-way fight between Norris, Verstappen and Piastri at the season finale.