Formula 1 – Max Verstappen celebrates third World Championship title with victory at Qatar Grand Prix

Newly crowned three-times world champion Max Verstappen secured his 14th Grand Prix win of the season in Qatar.

The Dutchman maintained the lead from pole and was untouchable throughout the race in excruciatingly hot and humid conditions.

“I think what made the race was my first stint. After that I could just manage my pace and make sure the tyres were in a good window,” Verstappen said in parc ferme. “But the McLarens were quick again today, I had to push throughout! It was definitely a tough race out there, one of [my toughest], top five, probably.

“We’ll enjoy and celebrate a little bit today, but there are still quite a few races out there that we want to win.”

Race direction mandated ahead of the Grand Prix that no set of tyres was to be used for longer than 18 laps in total, resulting in three-stop strategies for the majority of the field.

Asked about the tyre limit, Verstappen commented: “I prefer it when we can just push for as long as we can on a tyre and not force pit stops. We design cars to be good on tyres; today we couldn’t optimise that fully and it’s usually our strong point. But we’ll see what we can improve in the future.”

Behind Verstappen, McLaren kept their podium streak going with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris taking the chequered flag in second and third respectively.

Piastri had an excellent start and capitalised on a collision between the two Mercedes to shoot into runner-up spot and stay there. He was under some pressure from his team-mate Norris in the late stages but managed to cover the position and follow his Saturday Sprint win up with another podium in the Grand Prix.

“I’m very, very happy, we had really impressive pace” he said post race. “[This was] definitely the hardest race I’ve had in my life – it was hot! I think also with the three-stops it was basically flat out. It’s 57 qualifying laps which I definitely feel like I’ve done.

“It was a really good race, I’m happy that all the tyres stayed together and happy with another podium too.”

Meanwhile, Norris completed a comeback race from 10th on the grid. The McLaren driver ran an admirable pace to pick his way up the order, including a spectacular overtake around the outside on Charles Leclerc.

He was hunting down Fernando Alonso for third and claimed the position, aided by an overcut in the pits, to never surrender it from there.

“It was a mega race from start to finish,” Norris said. “A good opening lap – I learned from my mistake yesterday of going wide, went tight and it worked out. Good start, good pace throughout the whole thing; we had the best pace out there today, so I’m happy.

“Stressful, hot, sweaty, little bit tired, but great job for the team – three [double podiums] in a row now.

“The three-stop made it a lot harder because you could push more. Even on the last stint you could pretty much push flat out. It was one of the hardest races I’ve ever done in a way, but it’s a nice challenge.”

The collision between the two Mercedes at lights out meant the race was over for Lewis Hamilton before it really began. Hamilton was on a softer tyre compound and challenged his team-mate George Russell around the outside going into Turn 1.

Russell too spun as a result of the contact but avoided the gravel and was able to rejoin the race. He headed to the pits during the ensuing safety car and swapped to a four-stop strategy.

The Brit made a great comeback from there and Mercedes briefly even eyed a battle with the McLarens for a podium finish. However, Russell eventually had to settle for fourth, a valiant effort given the nightmare start to the race.

Leclerc came home in fifth while Alonso, who was in podium contention for a long time, could not recover from an off-track excursion and finished sixth.

Esteban Ocon was seventh while, notably, Alfa Romeo scored points with both their drivers, having pitted under the early safety car and made the four-stop work. Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10 following a start from pit lane and two five-seconds penalties for repeatedly exceeding track limits.

“The pace is good today,” Norris said on his team radio during the race and it certainly was. The McLaren driver sliced through the field from a meagre 10th on the starting grid with an exhibition in tyre management.

With a number of overtakes executed, Norris certainly earned the podium finish today. He may even have been in contention to attack his team-mate Piastri in the late stages but listened to the team call to hold the position and do what’s best for the team.

1/57: VERSTAPPEN HOLD LEAD AT LIGHTS OUT, MERCEDES COLLIDE – Verstappen holds the lead from pole, but it’s disaster for the Mercedes behind him. The team-mates collide with Hamilton spinning into the gravel and losing a tyre, he is out of the race. Russell reports damage but has rejoined for now. Somehow, Piastri is up to second followed by Alonso and Leclerc.

12/57: ALONSO IN THE PITS – Alonso heads into the pits for a new set of tyres and Gasly follows suit. Leclerc and Norris need to watch out for an undercut here.

13/57: PIASTRI BOXES – And here’s Piastri for his first pit stop. It’s a slow-ish one, but he still manages to exit well ahead of Alonso. Meanwhile, Leclerc too stopped for new tyres and it worked rather well for him as he does the undercut on Alonso.

18/57: VERSTAPPEN PITS, CHECKS OUT – There’s the first stop for Verstappen and although he rejoins the track in second, marginally behind Albon who is yet to pit, he is eight seconds ahead of his first actual rival Piastri. The world champion has checked out here.

19/57: NORRIS IN ATTACK MODE – ‘The pace is good today,’ Norris says on the radio and he makes it count. He overtakes Leclerc, spectacularly around the outside, and goes to hunt down Alonso. Aston Martin react, telling Stroll, running ahead of Alonso, to let the Spaniard pass.

28/57: NEW SET OF MEDIUMS FOR NORRIS – Norris gets a fresh set of mediums and he rejoins the track ahead of Alonso.

33/57: ALONSO OFF TRACK – Big moment for Alonso who goes well, well wide at Turn 2. He rejoins the track in seventh and almost collides with Leclerc doing so.

40/57: POSITIONS ESTABLISHED FOR NOW – Out front, Verstappen is up and away. Norris edges slightly closer to Piastri but can’t take any significant time out of his team-mate. Likewise, Russell is not getting closer to the McLarens either.

45/57: OVERCUT DOESN’T QUITE WORK FOR NORRIS – Norris comes in for his final pit stop and rejoins the track behind Piastri.

49/57: McLAREN SEEK BUFFER – Piastri and Norris are closing in on Russell who will need to pit a lap from now. They need a buffer here should Russell try to make soft tyres work late on and take time out of them on the hard compound.

53/57: GAME ON BETWEEN THE McLARENS – The gap between the McLarens is on less than two seconds now. Norris might be losing out here due to the dirty air from Piastri right ahead of him costing him pace. Russell is more than 20 seconds behind.

57/57: FINAL LAP UNDERWAY – Barring disaster, Verstappen will cruise to the win here. Behind, Norris is not quite within DRS range of Piastri and the Aussie likely has this covered. Russell is more than 27 seconds behind in fourth.