PIASTRI CRUISES TO QATAR SPRINT VICTORY IN DOMINANT STYLE
Piastri dominated the Qatar Sprint and won clearly ahead of Russell and Norris in the 19-lap race.
Starting from pole, Piastri had a clean getaway and stayed in front almost the whole time. His only real difficulty came at the end, when his tyres started to wear out. Russell held off Norris to keep second place.
Verstappen, one of the title contenders, started sixth and could only climb to fourth. His car was still bouncing badly, the same problem he had on Friday. Antonelli crossed the line in fifth after Tsunoda got a penalty for going off track too many times, but Antonelli then received the same five-second penalty. That pushed him back to sixth and put Tsunoda back into the points. Alonso and Sainz took the last points places in a Sprint where tyre management and staying within track limits were everything.
There had been only one hour of practice on Friday, so Sprint Qualifying was especially important. Piastri took pole on his last lap, beating Russell by just 0.032 seconds. Norris made a mistake and went into the gravel, so he lost his chance for pole. Alonso was a strong fourth. Tsunoda was fifth, surprisingly ahead of his Red Bull teammate Verstappen. Verstappen, who usually shines in Sprint Qualifying, had to settle for sixth.
Things were even worse for Hamilton. He was knocked out in SQ1 and finished 18th. Ferrari chose to change his car overnight, so he had to start from the pit lane. Stroll, Gasly, and Colapinto did the same.
At the start of the Sprint, most drivers used medium tyres, some new and some used. When the lights went out, Piastri launched well and kept the lead. Russell had to defend against Norris into Turn 1. Alonso lost positions to both Red Bulls, and Verstappen moved up to fourth almost immediately.
Leclerc had a messy first lap, went wide at Turn 2, and fell from ninth to thirteenth. Hamilton stayed stuck near the back after his pit-lane start.
Piastri slowly pulled away, building a gap of more than a second early on. Verstappen tried to pass Norris for third but failed, and he kept complaining about the bouncing and poor radio quality.
Part of Sainz’s car broke off while he was in eighth, but he had enough of a gap behind to manage the problem. By Lap 11, Piastri led Russell by two seconds. Mercedes warned Russell about tyre wear, but the top three seemed safe.
Further back, Lawson fought Leclerc and went off track, then gave the position back. Many drivers struggled with track limits. Tsunoda got a five-second penalty for going wide too often. That seemed to help Antonelli, who moved to sixth and hoped to gain another place through Tsunoda’s penalty. But Antonelli also received the same penalty, so he stayed sixth in the final results.
Ferrari had a bad race: Leclerc finished 13th and Hamilton 17th, scoring no points. Hadjar ended ninth, Albon tenth, followed by Bortoleto and Bearman. Kick Sauber remained the only team without a Sprint point this season.
Lawson finished 14th, ahead of Ocon and Hulkenberg. The pit-lane starters used the race mostly for testing, making extra stops for fresh tyres.
Next up for the drivers is Qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix at 18:00 local time.
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