F1 Qatar Grand Prix 2025: Sprint Results And Report As Oscar Piastri Dominates

Oscar Piastri took a much-needed sprint victory at the Qatar Grand Prix to keep his hopes of a maiden Formula 1 drivers' title alive.

The Australian was untroubled from pole to beat Mercedes' George Russell to the checkered flag, with McLaren teammate and championship leader Lando Norris in third, having held off early advances from Max Verstappen.

Piastri's win means he has cut the gap to Norris to 22 points with two grands prix remaining, with Verstappen dropping 25 points behind.

Piastri dominates

It was expected that the first corner would dictate the story of the 19-lap event, and Piastri had exactly the start he needed, breezing clear of Russell into Turn 1.

Norris came close to contact with the Mercedes driver as the drivers battled for position into the braking zone, while Verstappen got ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda without resistance to take fourth as Fernando Alonso dropped to sixth.

Further down the field, Charles Leclerc went off twice in the opening three laps and fell to 13th while Isack Hadjar rose from 11th to ninth, challenging Carlos Sainz for the final points-paying position.

As anticipated, the field was largely stagnant in the first half of the sprint, though Verstappen had locked onto Norris and kept within the DRS zone. The issue for the Dutchman, though, was that the bouncing and jumping that plagued his Friday running persisted into Saturday.

Sprinting round Lusail to secure a 1-3 🧡#McLaren | #QatarGP 🇶🇦 pic.twitter.com/Qs6JKVozAn
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) November 29, 2025

Sainz's Williams shed a bargeboard into the high-energy Turns 12/13/14 complex, though there was no need for stoppage as the debris cleared quickly.

By lap 9, Verstappen had dropped two seconds behind Norris, the Briton the same distance back from Russell ahead.

Kimi Antonelli made a position on Alonso for sixth as the two-time champion went wide at the final corner to provide the Italian rookie with a gift, while a Tsunoda up ahead was handed a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits.

The race pace between the McLarens and Russell was comparable, with the Mercedes within two seconds of leader Piastri heading into the final three laps.

That gap would extend in the closing stages, with Piastri never threatened, taking a crucial sprint win to close in on Norris by two points.

Verstappen was fourth ahead of Tsunoda on track, though the Japanese driver dropped behind Antonelli by virtue of his penalty.

However, Antonelli was then served a penalty of his own for exceeding track limits in bizarre circumstances, with a lap deleted, then reinstated before being deleted again to give the rookie his fourth strike. That put Tsunoda back into fifth.

Alonso finished seventh for Aston Martin to consolidate his strong qualifying performance, with Sainz coming home behind his compatriot for the final point.

Hadjar was ninth, with Alex Albon 10th, with Gabriel Bortoleto making positions up from his starting spot to finish 11th for Sauber.

Oliver Bearman survived a lairy moment through Turn 5 in the closing stages to finish 12th ahead of Leclerc, who was the lead Ferrari to continue a miserable weekend for the Scuderia - Lewis Hamilton finishing 17th having started in the pitlane.

Liam Lawson ended the sprint 14th ahead of Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg, while Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll and Franco Colapinto all pitted late on to test out the soft tires for the rest of the weekend.

F1 Sprint Results - Qatar Grand Prix 2025

Position	Driver / Team
1	Oscar Piastri / McLaren
2	George Russell / Mercedes
3	Lando Norris / McLaren
4	Max Verstappen / Red Bull
5	Yuki Tsunoda / Red Bull
6	Kimi Antonelli / Mercedes
7	Fernando Alonso / Aston Martin
8	Carlos Sainz / Williams
9	Isack Hadjar / Racing Bulls
10	Alex Albon / Williams
11	Gabriel Bortoleto / Sauber
12	Oliver Bearman / Haas
13	Charles Leclerc / Ferrari
14	Liam Lawson / Racing Bulls
15	Esteban Ocon / Haas
16	Nico Hulkenberg / Sauber
17	Lewis Hamilton / Ferrari
18	Pierre Gasly / Alpine
19	Lance Stroll / Aston Martin
20	Franco Colapinto / Alpine

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