Piastri controls the Sprint in Lusail and closes in on Norris

Oscar Piastri controlled the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix Sprint from pole position to complete the 19 laps with a 4.951-second lead over George Russell. The McLaren driver now has three Sprint format victories at the Lusail International Circuit, all in different editions of the Qatar Grand Prix.

Russell held second place throughout the race, blocking attempts by Lando Norris to close in. Piastri's teammate missed his attack at the first corner and spent the rest of the race less than two seconds behind the Mercedes without being able to make the pass.

Piastri cut Norris' lead in the drivers' championship by two points. The gap narrowed to 22 points with 50 points still available between Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

Photo By Mclaren

Verstappen advances two positions with his bouncing RB21

Max Verstappen climbed from sixth to fourth, but reported severe porpoising problems over the radio. "The bouncing is still very bad" and "the car is jumping" were his messages to the team. The problem prevented him from attacking Norris in the early laps when the McLaren hadn't yet escaped DRS range.

Red Bull Racing needs Verstappen to win in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and for Norris not to score, to maintain mathematical chances in the championship. The RB21's technical problems complicate that scenario. Norris now leads Verstappen by 25 points.

Stewards issue two five-second penalties

Yuki Tsunoda exceeded track limits four times in the first nine laps. The stewards showed him the black and white flag on lap 11, followed by a five-second penalty. The Red Bull Racing driver qualified fifth and maintained that track position throughout the race.

Kimi Antonelli accumulated similar infractions at turn 10. The stewards applied a five-second penalty after the checkered flag, which saved Tsunoda's fifth place. The Mercedes driver finished sixth after serving the penalty.

Fernando Alonso lost two positions at the start when both Red Bulls passed him entering turn 1. He dropped from fourth to sixth. On lap 12 he went deep at the final corner, allowing Antonelli to pass. He finished seventh. Carlos Sainz completed the points in eighth with Williams.

Photo By Mclaren

Ferrari ends Sprint without scoring

Charles Leclerc started ninth and went wide at turn 2 during the first lap. He dropped to 13th and couldn't recover positions in the remaining 18 laps. He finished in that same position.

Lewis Hamilton qualified 18th after being eliminated in SQ1. Ferrari made changes to the SF-25 under parc fermé conditions, forcing him to start from the pitlane. He finished 17th, over 46 seconds behind the winner.

Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll also started from the pitlane and completed the order in the last three positions.

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time	Status
1	#81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	26:51.033	Classified
2	#63	George Russell	Mercedes	+4.951s	Classified
3	#4	Lando Norris	McLaren	+6.279s	Classified
4	#1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+9.054s	Classified
5	#22	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull Racing	+19.327s	Classified
6	#12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+21.391s	Classified
7	#14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+24.556s	Classified
8	#55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+27.333s	Classified
9	#6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	+28.206s	Classified
10	#23	Alexander Albon	Williams	+28.925s	Classified
11	#5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber	+32.966s	Classified
12	#87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	+34.529s	Classified
13	#16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+35.182s	Classified
14	#30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+36.916s	Classified
15	#31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	+38.838s	Classified
16	#27	Nico Hulkenberg	Kick Sauber	+39.638s	Classified
17	#44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+46.171s	Classified
18	#10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1:09.534	Classified
19	#18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+1:17.960	Classified
20	#43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+1:20.804	Classified