Max Verstappen delivered a dominant showing to win the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix, as Ferrari ensured the Constructors’ title with McLaren will go down to the wire.
Verstappen took the lead at the opening corner and was supreme to secure his ninth win this season, with Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri coming second and third.
Verstappen posted the best time in qualifying, but an impeding incident with George Russell saw him cop a one-place grid drop that promoted his rival to pole position.
All the drivers decided to start on the Medium compound bar Nico Hulkenberg, who rued an issue with the electrical charge on the Haas as he was eliminated in 18th.
Verstappen made good on his promise to regain the lead at the start as he nailed the launch to come alongside Russell and acquire the high ground going into Turn 1.
Lando Norris capitalised on their battle to cut underneath Russell and he attempted to challenge Verstappen, who held the inside into Turn 3 to maintain first position.
Behind, Leclerc managed to pass Oscar Piastri in the sister McLaren, while Carlos Sainz in the sister Ferrari completed the top five as Lewis Hamilton slipped to ninth.
Hulkenberg’s attempts to make up spots at the start saw him lose the rear into Turn 1 and collect Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who then tagged Williams’ Franco Colapinto.
Colapinto and Ocon’s stricken cars meant the Safety Car was called, but not before Lance Stroll had pitched Alex Albon into a spin much to the Williams’ man disgust.
The racing resumed as Lap 4 came to a close with Verstappen leading Norris, whose McLaren team-mate Piastri slipstreamed past Leclerc to reclaim fourth position.
Fernando Alonso had qualified within the top 10, but he lamented the straight-line speed on the Aston Martin as he slipped several places on the restart down to 12th.
Aston Martin’s outing proceeded to get worse as Stroll received a 10-second penalty, which the Canadian served prior to becoming the third retirement of the evening.
Verstappen was starting to open some breathing space as he had a two-second gap to Norris on Lap 10, while Russell was a similar distance back from the McLaren.
Yuki Tsunoda had managed to climb as high as 10th place on the opening lap, but the RB driver lost a place to Pierre Gasly on Lap 12 and then Alonso on the next lap.
Meanwhile, Hamilton had been noted for a false start and an inevitable five-second penalty was dished out to him as the Briton closed on Sergio Perez’s seventh spot.
The leading two appeared in another league as Verstappen and Norris traded lap times to drop Russell, who had Piastri behind attempting to get into his DRS window.
Piastri managed to reduce the gap to under a second to get that extra overtaking aid on Lap 22, while Leclerc in the head Ferrari was also starting to close on the pair.
Mercedes heeded that warning and pitted Russell next time around, but a seven-second stop hindered him as he returned to the track outside the points in 11th place.
Russell’s outing was worsening as he was unable to make an impression on Alonso’s Aston Martin in the succeeding laps, costing him time to Piastri and the Ferraris.
There was a mirror situated on the main straight which the stewards seemed content to cover under a caution, as Norris was told to use up the pace he has available.
Norris began to close on Verstappen, who radioed his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to instruct Red Bull to investigate whether Norris slowed through the caution.
Valtteri Bottas’ Sauber went over the stranded mirror and the shattered debris witnessed both Hamilton and Sainz pick up punctures on Lap 35 that ruined their races.
That prompted the Safety Car to be called out for the second time on Lap 35, allowing Verstappen and Norris to pit and protect their positions at the head of the pack.
Meanwhile, Leclerc capitalised on Piastri having pitted prior to the disruption to box at a reduced overall time loss to move up into third behind Verstappen and Norris.
Perez was sustaining a more encouraging run inside the top five, but he lost drive as the grid prepared to return to racing conditions to put his Red Bull into retirement.
That didn’t prolong a restart, though, as Norris utilised the slipstream to pressure Verstappen into Turn 1, with the Dutchman braking late to the inside to keep his lead.
Behind, Leclerc and Piastri went wheel-to-wheel as Ferrari struggled to generate temperature in the Hard tyres, but he managed to resist the McLaren driver’s advance.
Perez’s misfortune preceded Hulkenberg beaching his Haas car in the gravel at Turn 9, leading the Race Director to send a Virtual Safety Car which nullified the action.
The racing resumed on Lap 43 and, on this occasion, it was Norris who was under pressure as he was made to move to the inside line to protect second from Leclerc.
However, the Briton’s bid to challenge Verstappen was derailed as he was handed a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for failing to slow under that earlier caution period.
Hamilton was also penalised as he had sped into the pitlane earlier on; the seven-time F1 champion served his punishment which ensured that he would be dead last.
Norris wasn’t giving up on amassing a valuable point as he cruised past both RB drivers to climb into 12th place behind the squabbling Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas.
The McLaren driver dispatched with those two with ease to get back into 10th place, while setting the fastest lap on his charge put him on course to claim two points.
Verstappen was not to be denied despite having his pole position stripped controlled the race to pick up his second consecutive win at the Lusail International Circuit.
Leclerc clinched second to help Ferrari outscore McLaren and ensure the Constructors’ Championship remains alive as Piastri completed the podium in third position.
Russell was next up on the road behind the McLaren, while Gasly produced another remarkable drive to round out the top five runners and put Alpine up to sixth place.
Alonso ended Aston Martin’s barren run in seventh place, with Zhou Guanyu coming home in eighth place to score Sauber’s first points this season with a round to go.
Kevin Magnussen lessened the blow that Alpine imposed on Haas as he took ninth place. Norris salvaged the last point with his recovery to 10th in the closing stages.
