Max Verstappen rounded out his title-clinching weekend on the perfect note by strolling to victory in the Qatar Grand Prix, as the two Mercedes drivers collided early on.
The newly crowned three-time World Champion was uncontested throughout, beating Oscar Piastri. McLaren secured a second consecutive double podium finish as Lando Norris took third.
There was drama before the cars headed to the grid as Carlos Sainz was ruled out. Ferrari had diagnosed a fuel system issue on his SF-23 charger, ending his participation before he had entered the cockpit.
The entire top 10 opted for the Medium compound with the exception of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas; Liam Lawson and Kevin Magnussen also opted for the red-walled compound. Meanwhile, Sergio Perez, starting from the pitlane after his crash yesterday, was fitted with Hards for Red Bull.
Hamilton expectedly got away well from third and then sized up a move to the outside of Russell going into Turn 1. However, Russell ended up sandwiched between Verstappen and his team-mate on the entry to the right-hander, resulting in Hamilton getting pitched into a spin and out of the race.
Piastri, Saturday’s Sprint victor, took advantage of Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso being caught up by the Mercedes carnage to propel from sixth to second. McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri gained four spots to sixth, while Esteban Ocon was also on the rise to move up into the top five.
Mercedes’ disastrous start to the evening continued as Russell limped into the pits at the end of Lap 1 to change tyres and front wing. The Briton expressed his dismay at the incident, prompting Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff to instruct his driver to focus on the remainder of the race ahead.
Bottas, Magnussen, Lance Stroll and Liam Lawson all took advantage of the Safety Car appearing to clear the stricken Mercedes to pit at the end of Lap 3, with the field returning to green flag conditions next time around.
Verstappen immediately streaked away on the restart, extending his margin to Piastri to over one second – as Russell almost made more contact, this time with Perez.
The Red Bull driver was struggling for grip on the hardest available compound, allowing Russell to complete an ambitious overtake around the outside of Turns 4 and 5.
Prior to that, Nico Hulkenberg had dislodged Yuki Tsunoda of eighth place with a clean move around the outside of Turn 1. But the German’s joy would be replaced by anguish as he picked up a 10s time penalty for starting in the incorrect grid spot.
Alonso’s valiant attempt to hang onto the podium battle saw him drift wide off the track and drop 2s behind Piastri, with Leclerc now looming within his DRS window.
Russell continued to charge through the pack, passing Zhou Guanyu and Logan Sargeant with ease before also taking the second Williams of Alex Albon.
Alonso became the first of the front runners to pit at the end of Lap 11, accompanied by Pierre Gasly. Aston Martin successfully covered off the undercut threat posed by Ocon’s earlier stop, with Alpine initially being triggered into action by Yuki Tsunoda boxing.
Piastri and Leclerc were the next drivers to venture into the pitlane, the McLaren racer rejoining the track behind a tight battle unfolding between Lawson and Magnussen.
Ferrari’s swift pit work had moved Leclerc ahead of Alonso, but the Spaniard immediately pounced on warmer rubber to reclaim the place he had initially lost.
Russell was on the charge and proceeded to clock the fastest lap at that stage before pitting for a second time at the end of Lap 14, emerging behind the two Alpines.
Verstappen eventually pitted at the end of Lap 17, offering Williams the opportunity to lead a race. It would prove to be shortlived, however, as Albon immediately pitted.
Leclerc had failed to retain pace with Alonso and soon had Norris for company behind; at the second attempt, the McLaren driver made the work into Turn 1 on Lap 19.
The second round of scheduled stops for Piastri, Leclerc and Ocon arrived at the end of Lap 25, Alonso, complaining of a burning seat, pitting the next time by with Gasly.
While its rivals had all changed to the Hard tyres, McLaren persisted with the Medium for both cars. Norris came in at the end of Lap 27 and some quickfire in laps enabled him to comfortably leapfrog Alonso.
The Hard tyre runners had experienced problems with getting sufficient heat into the compound, resulting in it taking until Lap 32 for Leclerc to overhaul Stroll for 10th.
Perez was in for the second time at the end of that lap and sat stationary to serve a five-second time penalty he picked up exceeding track limits on too many occasions.
Russell, now on a four-stop strategy following his unscheduled first lap tyre change, exited the pit lane for the third time ahead of Leclerc in sixth, which then became fifth when Fernando Alonso had a moment at Turn 2 and trailed through the gravel.
Mercedes had previously informed its sole remaining driver in the race that he was on target for fourth and he moved into that place by overtaking Bottas’ Alfa Romeo.
Sargeant, circulating last, told his Williams team that he was feeling unwell but remained determined to make it to the end despite being given the option to retire early. However, several laps later the American had to accept defeat and exited with 15 laps left.
Red Bull’s frustration with Perez grew ever more as the Mexican picked up yet another five-second penalty for a track limits infringement. Team-mate Max Verstappen, on the other hand, nailed in another fastest lap to stretch his lead towards the 10s mark.
Norris had been closing on his team-mate by the time Piastri came in at the end of Lap 43 to make his third and final pit stop. Norris boxed the following lap, coming within a whisker of snatching a net second place.
The McLaren drivers traded lap times as the team told Norris to bring it home, a request the Briton queried. Behind them, Gasly and Albon picked up penalties for track limits.
Russell finally made his final trip to the pits at the conclusion of Lap 50, moving onto the Soft tyre and needing to close a 15s gap in six laps for a podium place.
A long way out in the lead, Verstappen also came in, but Red Bull played it more conservatively by fitting the Medium tyre to his RB19.
Gasly’s penalty had dropped him behind Stroll but reclaimed the final points place with a move around the outside of Turn 1. Having overtaken Stroll off the track, Gasly was made to let the Aston Martin through on the start-finish straight, enabling Perez to also edge past the Frenchman.
However, that wasn’t the end of their respective contest as Gasly overtook Perez. But once again he went all four wheels off the track to complete the manoeuvre.
After being pipped to the Sprint victory on Saturday, Verstappen romped to his 14th win of 2023 on Sunday evening in Lusail, beating Piastri and Norris in the two McLarens.
Russell’s hard-fought and eventful evening yielded a fourth-place finish, ahead of Alonso, Ocon and Bottas.
Stroll and Gasly both earned further penalties for track limits, promoting Perez to ninth and handing Alfa Romeo a double points haul as Zhou stole 10th. Post-race, Perez was handed a third penalty, meaning he swapped places with Zhou in the final classification.
