Were Red Bull more competitive in the Qatar GP despite McLaren’s strategy error?

The 25-lap limitation imposed by Pirelli for its tyres around the punishing Lusail International Circuit brought on a strange Qatar Grand Prix – but it was made yet-stranger by McLaren’s reaction to a Lap 7 Safety Car.

Oscar Piastri – polesitter and dominant winner of the previous day’s Sprint race – looked set for a straightforward victory as he steadily pulled away from Max Verstappen in the early laps, with Lando Norris stuck behind the Red Bull in third.

But as the seventh lap began, Nico Hulkenberg, in trying to take his Sauber around the outside of Pierre Gasly for ninth place through Turns 1-2, interlocked wheels with the Alpine and spun his heavily damaged car to the side.