5 Things We Learned From the Qatar Grand Prix

The Australian had won the Sprint race and qualified on pole for both races.

That poor decision by McLaren not to pit under the safety car on lap seven led to Max Verstappen winning his seventh race of the season after Piastri had dominated the weekend. The Australian ended up finishing second. Williams’ Carlos Sainz scored his second podium finish of the season with a fine drive to third place.

Championship leader Lando Norris had his advantage cut down after finishing fourth in the penultimate race of the season.

Verstappen’s win in Qatar means it’s a three-way shootout in the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi this coming weekend. 16 points separate the top three drivers, with the title firmly in Norris’s hands.

Before we head to the season finale, let’s unpack five things we learned from the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint weekend:

5 – Kimi Antonelli faces online abuse

The Italian rookie faced abuse from so-called F1 fans after Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, told the reigning champion over the radio: “Not sure what happened to Antonelli Max, looks like he just pulled over and let Norris through.” Lambiase uttered this after Verstappen’s rival passed Antonelli for fourth place in the dying stages of the race and secured 12 points.

4 – Is Hamilton regretting joining Ferrari?

The seven-time world champion qualified 18th in the Sprint and 17th in the Grand Prix for another disappointing weekend. Ferrari team boss, Fred Vasseur said: We knew this circuit would be more difficult than the previous one for us, and all weekend long we were unable to find the right setup. The British driver didn’t score any points and still hasn’t had a GP podium in 2025.

3 – Smooth operator – Sainz’s brilliant podium finish

In contrast, the driver that Hamilton replaced, Carlos Sainz, scored his third-place finish of 2025. He benefited from the McLaren decision not to pit under the safety car and moved up from seventh to third in a brilliant display of driving.

2 – Don’t write off Max Verstappen

The Dutch driver knew he needed some luck to still be in the title fight right until the very end, and he got that two weekends in a row. McLaren’s disqualification in Las Vegas was unforeseen, but in Qatar, Verstappen was handed the win after McLaren decided not to pit their cars after Nico Hulkenberg drew the safety car. Red Bull benefited from the ‘cheap’ pit stop, and Max picked up his seventh win of the season. “We will fight to the end, mate,” Verstappen’s engineer told Max after the flag.

1 – Did McLaren sabotage Piastri’s race?

Yes, is the short answer. The Australian came back with a vengeance in Qatar, securing the Sprint win. The McLarens had strong pace, and Piastri’s pole position meant he was in the driving seat. However, the team’s decision not to bring in both their cars for a pit stop under the safety car proved detrimental to Piastri’s race as he lost out on the win. “We had the pace for the win today, we just didn’t make the right call. I tried my best to catch Max, and we left it all out there, so it’s painful not to get the win.