Formula 1

Piastri wins Qatar Sprint to make small dent into Norris’s title lead

Motorsport Technology
2 weeks ago
3 min read

Oscar Piastri finally returned to winning ways, albeit in the shorter Qatar Sprint format, to make a minor dent in McLaren teammate Lando Norris’ F1 title lead.

The Australian driver, who last registered any victory eight races ago at the Dutch GP, was rarely troubled after holding his lead from pole to head home the Mercedes of George Russell, teammate Norris and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.

With far fewer points on offer in the Sprint format, it means a gain of only two points for Piastri with just two full GPs remaining.

“Yeah, I mean its been a good weekend so far, I think and everything went smoothly in the Sprint there,” commented Piastri on Sky Sports afterward. “Happy with how its been so far and just need to keep it rolling.

“It’s obviously a very different circuit to where we have been. Much higher speeds, much higher grip. I think the last couple of weekends it’s just been things going wrong rather than a lack of pace, so to speak, so I think here everything’s gone smoothly so far and the pace has been strong.”

It was an interesting start, Yuki Tsunoda and Verstappen both jumping Fernando Alonso with the Dutchman also sweeping past his teammate into Turn 4.

With Verstappen all over the back of Norris and a DRS advantage for a couple of laps, it looked like another change was in the offing. But the Englishman’s defence held firm, the Red Bull eventually dropping back in the dirty air.

“I never saw him actually, I just saw George ahead, so yeah. I try to go forwards,” commented Norris.

“I got pretty close at the start. But it was good. I didn’t see what happened behind. A long stint, it felt like. A lot of pushing. Not easy to pass around here, too difficult, so all about qualifying.”

After his barren run of results, Piastri immediately found himself with a comfortable lead on a circuit he appears to relish, putting distance between himself and his title rivals.

And that is how it finished. A top four that only Verstappen would probably be disappointed about but with the big picture only likely to emerge after Sunday’s vitally important race day.

And Norris gets the job done on Sunday if he can extend his lead to 26 points or more, regardless of what happens at the season ending Abu Dhabi GP.

“George was almost on (Sprint) pole. He showed that the Mercedes was quick and he is doing a very, very good job,” added Norris.

“So I think it will be close, I don’t think it will be an easy one, but the team have given us a very good car again as they always do and it’s been quick. It’s a hell of a lap around here in qualifying so I’m looking forward to it.”

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