F1
Max wins in Qatar to set up title showdown
Max Verstappen pounced on a moment of strategic indecision to power to his seventh win of the season at the Qatar Grand Prix.
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Reactions from The Team after a brilliant win at the Qatar Grand Prix 2025
With Oscar Piastri second and Lando Norris in fourth place at the flag, Max goes to the final race for the season in P2 in the Drivers’ standings and just 12 points behind championship leader Lando. It was a rewarding day for Yuki, too, as he rose from P15 on the grid to claim a point at the flag.
The race under the lights of Lusail pivoted around a lap seven Safety Car, released when Nico Hülkenberg was hit by Pierre Gasly in Turn 2 and left stranded at the side of the track. The Oracle Red Bull Racing pit wall immediately pushed the button, bringing Max in to split the race into two 25 lap stints, whilst McLaren kept their race-leading drivers out. This decision proved crucial as Max took the flag with eight seconds in hand over Oscar. Lando meanwhile finished in P4 behind Carlos Sainz, who grabbed a well-deserved second grand prix podium of the season.
The Podium Of Qatar 2025
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Race Report
When the lights went out, Lando appeared to get a good getaway, but he lost out in the second phase of acceleration and as Oscar streaked into the lead, Max was able to muscle his way past in Turn 1. Further back, Yuki made a solid start but in the Turn 1 tussling he lost out and emerged in P16 behind Haas’ Esteban Ocon.
First Turn Thrills At Qatar
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Across the opening laps, Oscar began to carve out a gap, with Max hovering at about 2s behind and with Lando in P3 by the same margin.
On lap 7, the shape of the race changed. Nico went to overtake Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman squeezed the German, there was contact and Nico spun off track, shipping significant damage.
The Safety Car was released and while the McLaren duo stayed out, alongside Haas’ Esteban Ocon, every other driver, including Max and Yuki, dived for the pit lane to clear one of their two expected stops.
As the queues in the pit lane played out, Max rejoined in P3 behind the McLarens. Carlos had moved up to fourth, ahead of Kimi, while Fernando was sixth ahead of VCARB’s Isack Hadjar and George. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was ninth ahead of the Haas of Ollie Bearman. Yuki, meanwhile, had climbed to P12.
When the Safety Car left the track, Oscar controlled the restart well to hold the lead ahead of Lando and Max. It was rapidly becoming clear, however, that the McLaren’s were facing a huge task if they were to build a big enough gap before lap 25 to avoid pitting back into heavy traffic.
Max On The Hunt For Pole
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The McLarens’ pursuit of that gap was initially aided by Fernando. Saving tyres, the Aston Martin driver was backing up the field in P6 and on lap 24 Oscar, with a 26s gap to the Spaniard, dived for the pits for Medium tyres. The Australian emerged ahead of the Spanish veteran and at the end of the following lap and at the limit of his tyre, Lando made the same switch and also emerged ahead of Fernando. Max now led the race ahead of Carlos and Kimi, with Oscar in fourth, 18s behind the Red Bull and with Lando 3.5s further back in P5.
On lap 32 Max was first into the pits to make his final stop. The defending champion made the switch to Hard tyres in a 2.5s stop and as the rest pitted behind him and the expected pit lane mêlée erupted, the Dutchman emerged in P3, just eight seconds behind Oscar and three adrift of Lando with both McLarens requiring a final stop. The McLarens again needed to find enough of a gap to the Dutchman to make their final stops and rejoin in front.
However, with Max delivering strong pace and realising the task was simply too great, Oscar boxed at the end of lap 42 and moved to a set of fresh Hard tyres to try to chase down Max from P2. Lando made his final stop at the end of lap 44 but he dropped behind Carlos and Kimi to sit in fifth place with 13 laps to go.
Speeding Through Lusail
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And there was no way either McLaren could make the targeted gains. Lando struggled to find the pace to get close enough to make a move on Kimi until the penultimate lap when the Italian rookie went wide at the exit of Turn 10 and Lando moved into fourth place.
And at the front, despite rattling off a barrage of fastest laps across his final stint, Oscar could only get to just inside eight seconds of Max.
The Dutchman balanced pace with careful management and after 57 well controlled laps, he crossed the line to take a stunning 70th career grand prix win and his seventh of the season. This matches the totals of his McLaren rivals and hauling the defending champion four points clear of Oscar in the championship standings and just 12 behind Lando. Fifth place went to Kimi, with George in sixth ahead of Fernando and Ferrari’s Charles. Liam Lawson was ninth for VCARB and the final point went to Yuki who made the most of his final stop and stint to rise to 10th place.
“We will fight to the end, mate,” GP told Max after the flag.
“Unbelievable!” said Max. “Really well done with the strategy guys, we keep staying in it, a really lovely race, great job everyone.”
Onto Abu Dhabi!
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