Did McLaren have the fastest car in Qatar? Yes. Was McLaren the smartest team in Qatar? No. And as a result, Max Verstappen won against odds in the grand prix at the Lusail International Circuit on Sunday, so that the battle for the championship will only be decided next week, at the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
The crucial moment in the race came early; after seven laps to be precise. At that moment, the safety car came onto the track due to a collision between Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine). Red Bull immediately brought Verstappen to the pits for a tire change, McLaren (unlike almost all other teams) allowed its drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to continue.
McLaren shot itself in the foot. This had everything to do with an exceptional circumstance in Qatar: all drivers were required to make at least two pit stops as a precaution, so that the tires did not become too worn on the very fast course, which in the worst case could lead to blowouts.
The decision by Red Bull and Verstappen to immediately enter the pits was therefore important: behind the safety car he could in fact make a free pit stop. When the neutralization was over, he was directly behind the McLarens and had to change tires one more time, while Piastri and Norris had two pit stops ahead of them. In fact, it meant that the McLarens had to make up 25 seconds on Verstappen.
They couldn’t do that. Oscar Piastri came closest; he was within 7.9 seconds of Verstappen at the finish. With the exception of the pit stops, Piastri was easily the fastest man in Qatar. Due to his team’s tactical blunder, it was of no use to him. And Verstappen wouldn’t be Verstappen if he executed his team’s plan perfectly, by controlling tire wear, while also continuing to drive competitive lap times without errors.
Max Verstappen’s Red Bull crosses the finish line in Qatar.
Photo Karim Jaafar/AFP
Norris fourth
Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris, the championship leader who could have secured the title with a victory on Sunday, finished fourth. He did not come close to his McLaren colleague in terms of speed, almost flew off the circuit once and finished 23 seconds behind Verstappen. If Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) had not made a mistake on the penultimate lap, allowing Norris to overtake him, Norris would have crossed the line in fifth place.
When the safety car came onto the track, Verstappen had already ensured on paper that he could still fight for the title in Abu Dhabi. He had to finish ahead of Norris to stay in the race. So the fact that he immediately overtook Norris, who started second, at the start from third place was an extremely important moment – especially because it is very difficult to overtake in Qatar, so he would have at least had a chance to keep Norris and his faster car behind him in the future.
Ultimately, the race turned out very differently, due to the safety car phase, which should not have happened a lap earlier. Then Verstappen would not have been able to implement his winning strategy. The race management had set a maximum usage time of 25 laps per set of tires. So when Hülkenberg and Gasly collided on the seventh of 57 laps, Verstappen was able to finish the race after his pit stop with exactly 25 laps on two sets of tires.
Verstappen’s victory was also unexpected because things still looked very bad for him on Friday and Saturday. Red Bull had missed the mark on Friday with the setup of Verstappen’s car. The car bounced around the track at high speed, because a too low ride height caused rapidly fluctuating air pressure under the car.
As a result, Verstappen only qualified sixth for the sprint. In that short race, over 19 laps, he limited the damage: Verstappen finished fourth, one place behind Norris, while Piastri won. With a major adjustment to his car, Verstappen then finished third in qualifying for the grand prix, although he was not yet satisfied with his car, whose front tires did not provide enough grip according to the Dutchman.
The fact that he nevertheless leaves Qatar as winner of the grand prix creates an exciting scenario for the season-ending event in Abu Dhabi. In that emirate, where Verstappen defeated Lewis Hamilton four years ago in a nerve-wracking and controversial denouement and won his first title, three drivers have a chance of winning the title next Sunday.
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Norris still leads the championship, with 408 points. Verstappen is second, twelve points behind. Piastri is third, sixteen points behind his teammate. Just three months ago, the situation looked very different. After Piastri won convincingly in Zandvoort, Verstappen was 104 points behind the Australian, who was then leading the World Cup standings.
Verstappen’s mission in Abu Dhabi is clear: he must win, and hope that Norris finishes fourth or lower. If he succeeds, he will have completed the most unlikely comeback in Formula 1 history and can call himself world champion for the fifth time in a row.
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