Max Verstappen has taken out the Qatar Grand Prix to send a tense Formula 1 title fight into the season’s final race in Abu Dhabi next weekend.
Championship leader Lando Norris would have clinched his first title with a win but finished in fourth place, with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri placing second.
All three title contenders have won seven races this season. Verstappen is aiming for a fifth-straight F1 title, with Piastri and Norris chasing their first.
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“That’s a very lovely race – great job everyone,” Verstappen said on team radio.
Norris can still become the first British driver to win the championship since Lewis Hamilton clinched the last of his seven titles in 2020 – but having entered the Qatar GP weekend with a 24-point lead over both his rivals, Norris is now 12 points ahead of Verstappen and 16 clear of Piastri, who dropped to third overall.
A disappointed Oscar Piastri after the Qatar GP Getty
“Speechless. I don’t know any words,” a dejected-sounding Piastri said.
“It is a little bit tough to swallow at the moment.”
Piastri started on pole position ahead of Norris, with Verstappen starting from third.
Although Verstappen overtook Norris heading into turn one, Piastri made a clean start and took a comfortable lead early on.
A strategy error cost McLaren after an early safety car prompted a flurry of tire changes, but both McLarens stayed out on track when Verstappen and the others came in.
“Clearly we didn’t get it right tonight,” Piastri said. “I think in hindsight, it is pretty obvious what we would have done. I am sure we will discuss it as a team.”
The decision played into Verstappen’s hands and the elated Dutchman climbed out of his car and jumped into the arms of his mechanics and engineers after winning.
“This was an incredible race for us, we made the right call as a team to box under that safety car and yeah that was smart,” Verstappen said.
“Super happy to win here, we stayed in the fight until the end. Incredible.”
The safety car came out after Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber was sent spinning off the track on the seventh lap after being clipped by Alpine driver Pierre Gasly.
The decision to stay out on track was questioned over team radio by Norris, in a race where drivers had to take two mandatory pit stops over the 57 laps — a measure imposed on safety grounds due to a high risk of tire degradation.
Lando Norris Formula 1 via Getty Images
Changing tires behind the safety car constituted the equivalent of a free change, with no time lost. McLaren gambled on holding track position, leaving them at risk later on.
Desert battles seem to suit Verstappen, who clinched a third straight win in Qatar and has won four of the last five races in Abu Dhabi.
Norris may take hope from the fact he won there last year.
But the McLarens head to Abu Dhabi with a hard-charging Verstappen looking to repeat history by clinching a championship in the last race at Abu Dhabi, having done so when he overtook Hamilton on the final lap after a controversial finish in 2021.
“It’s possible now but we will see,” said Verstappen, who had written off his chances earlier this season. “I don’t really worry about it too much.”