F1 Results Today: Max Verstappen takes big stride to title after McLaren outsmarted in Qatar

Max Verstappen took a vital victory at this year's Qatar Grand Prix after an early incident in Lusail proved crucial to the race result and 2025 championship battle.

A faultless weekend for Oscar Piastri saw McLaren's Australian driver take the sprint pole, sprint win and grand prix pole, but neither he nor Lando Norris took the chequered flag on Sunday, with Piastri finishing P2 and Norris crossing the line in P4.

As a result, the championship fight will now go down to the wire at next weekend's Abu Dhabi GP, where Verstappen, Norris and Piastri will fight it out for the drivers' title.

After lights out in Sunday's race, Piastri got a better launch from pole position than team-mate Norris, who once again suffered a weak grand prix start, losing P2 to Verstappen at Turn 1.

On lap seven of the Qatar GP, Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly made contact, leaving debris from Hulkenberg's Sauber scattered across the track, prompting a safety car.

This year's Qatar GP had already been declared a mandatory two-stop race by Pirelli, but the early safety car gave teams the opportunity to pit, something which Red Bull opted to gamble on with Verstappen.

But McLaren left both drivers out on track, creating a major chance for the Dutchman to get ahead. The papaya team later pitted both drivers for the first time on lap 25, as instructed by Pirelli prior to the race.

McLaren didn't falter on either of the stops for Piastri, but Norris' second stop was almost a second slower, giving him a lot of catching up to do after pitting for a second time on lap 44. McLaren's questionable strategy allowed Verstappen to take the win and leaves both Norris and Piastri under significant pressure to secure the title next time out.

Williams driver Carlos Sainz impressed by taking the final spot on the podium and Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli rounded out the top five.

Below are the full results from this year's 57-lap Qatar GP.

F1 Results: Qatar Grand Prix 2025

2025 rule change removes fastest lap point

Fastest lap points have been banished for 2025. Since 2019, drivers have picked up an extra point if they finish in the top 10 and achieve the fastest lap.

However, this led to some drivers abandoning their races to pit and fit a new set of tyres at the end in order to claim the fastest lap point, or to stop a rival from getting the extra point.

The most famous example of this in 2024 came during Daniel Ricciardo's final F1 race, when the Australian finished last but claimed the fastest lap on the final lap of the Singapore GP, taking the extra point away from Lando Norris and helping Max Verstappen's title bid.

Who is the current F1 world champion?

Max Verstappen is the reigning F1 champion and won his fourth drivers' championship last year.

F1 HEADLINES: Verstappen confirms Horner talks as champion issues bold declaration over future

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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