BEIJING: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won Sunday’s Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix to set up a three-way title showdown at next weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, reported Xinhua.
Verstappen’s win came as title rivals Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished second and fourth respectively, after their McLaren team made a strategy error that cost Piastri a likely win.
Fresh from winning Saturday’s Sprint event, Piastri led Verstappen and Norris away from pole position and had looked set for victory and a return to form after a lacklustre few weekends.
With tyre wear a concern around the Lusail Circuit, a maximum stint of 25 laps had been prescribed for the 57-lap race, and when Nico Hulkenberg tangled with Pierre Gasly on lap 7, it presented the field with the option to make a cheap pit stop under the Safety Car and break the remaining distance cleanly into two controlled 25-lap runs.
While virtually the entire field took this decision, Piastri and Norris instead both stayed out and now sat first and second – but in effect now had to make an extra pit stop relative to the rest of the pack.
Though the pair pushed hard once racing resumed, they were powerless to create enough of a gap to pit without losing track position to Verstappen, who eased into the lead and stayed there to take his seventh win of 2025.
“I didn’t expect to win today, that’s for sure,” said Verstappen afterwards.
“Looking at pure pace, we were not on the same level as McLaren, but we made the right call, as most of the grid did, in [pitting] under the safety car.
“That almost gives you a free pit stop and that made the race for me.”
For his part, Piastri rued McLaren’s decision not to pit him and Norris on lap 7.
“We didn’t get it right with the strategy. The pace was very strong. I didn’t put a foot wrong. Just a shame,” the Australian said.
“I left it [whether to pit] in the team’s hands to decide what the best strategy was. They had more information than I do.”
Behind the top two, Norris had looked set to finish fifth behind Williams’ Carlos Sainz and the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli but made a crucial pass on Antonelli with one lap to go to finish fourth and give himself two extra championship points.
The Briton is still the favorite to win the title and will do so if he finishes the Abu Dhabi race third or higher – regardless of what Verstappen or Piastri can manage.
Elsewhere in the race, Sainz produced one of the drives of the day to take a surprise second podium finish of the season in third, with Antonelli ultimately salvaging fifth.
A poor start for George Russell in the second Mercedes meant the Briton could finish only sixth, ahead of Fernando Alonso in his Aston Martin.
Charles Leclerc finished eighth on another dispiriting weekend for Ferrari, with Liam Lawson ninth for Racing Bulls, and Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top ten.
Heading into the season finale, Norris has a 12-point lead over Verstappen, with Piastri another four points adrift.
All three drivers have seven wins apiece this season, and the Abu Dhabi race will be the first title decider involving more than two drivers since 2010. – BERNAMA-XINHUA
