Oscar Piastri took his maiden sprint race win as Max Verstappen sealed his 3rd consecutive world title when Sergio Perez’s sprint race ended in the gravel.

Chaos and intrigue took centre stage in the sprint race as not only did the race provide a new winner, but a 3-time world champion was crowned after his teammate crashed out of the race.

3 safety cars during the 19 lap shootout dictated the battle between those on the soft compound tyres to those on the mediums. The former started quickly and took advantage of the extra grip on offer, but they dropped off towards the end and the latter held a pivotal advantage towards the end…

Sprint Shootout Rundown

It was a shock front row lockout for McLaren as Oscar Piastri took pole in front of the Lusail crowd, after teammate Lando Norris went off at the final corner during his final lap, which would have likely put him P1. Verstappen started P3, only needing P6 in the sprint to win the 2023 world title.

George Russell started P4 ahead of both Ferraris, as Nico Hulkenberg started ahead of Sergio Perez on the fourth row. Fernando Alonso led both Alpines in P9, whilst Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton suffered a SQ2 knockout.

His ex-teammate Valterri Bottas was P13 as Liam Lawson and Zhou Guanyu rounded out the top 15. Both Williams struggled again around the Lusail International Circuit and will be P17 (Albon) and P20 (Sargeant), as Lance Stroll was left frustrated in P16. Yuki Tsunoda and Kevin Magnussen occupied P18 and P19 respectively.

Sprint Race Rundown

Race Start

Oscar Piastri led the pack into Turn 1 ahead of the fast starting Mercedes of George Russell. It was 4 wide in between the Brit, Verstappen, Sainz and Lando Norris. This allowed the Ferrari of Leclerc through into P4, behind teammate Sainz.

Liam Lawson went off into the gravel, causing the first safety car of the race. It was the first error of the season for the Kiwi, who will search for better fortune tomorrow.

Safety Car Restart

Russell had an amazing restart and was down the inside of Piastri at Turn 8, as the Mercedes driver used all the grip available in the soft compound tyres. Alonso battled Lando Norris as the two drivers went wheel to wheel through the second sector.

This allowed Esteban Ocon to join the battle, and the Frenchman capitalised on Lando pushing the Aston Martin veteran out wide by overtaking the Spaniard. Proceedings would go no further as it was Logan Sergeant’s turn to be in the gravel trap and out of the Sprint.

Second Safety Car Restart

George Russell had another brilliant restart as it was Sainz and Piastri who battled into Turn 1 for P2, with the Australian rookie managing to hold on. However, all soft compound runners were about to hit tyre problems.

Verstappen was the first to take advantage of the medium tyres’ race pace and overtook Leclerc into Turn 1. One lap later, he did the same to teammate Carlos Sainz and was up to P3. On lap 11, Oscar Piastri had closed the gap to Russell and a battle for the lead was imminent.

The Australian breezed past the Mercedes into Turn 1 as the soft tyres continued to fall off. The good news kept coming for McLaren as Lando Norris cruised by Leclerc and was up into P5. His charge would come to a halt as a third safety car was deployed.

Perez and Ocon were out of the race and Magnussen was into the gravel trap with a broken front wing. They were 3 wide into Turn 2 but Ocon was not aware and swiped across both drivers, sandwiching the Haas.

With the world championship title secure, there was a sprint race winner to be decided, and all eyes were on how Oscar Piastri would handle the restart, and how long George Russell could hang onto the podium positions. Piastri managed the restart brilliantly and led the pack.

Onto lap 15, and Russell was down to P3. Verstappen was on the charge and chasing after the McLaren out in front. It took Lando Norris 2 laps to pass both Ferraris and he was within DRS range of George Russell.

Piastri Victorious amidst Verstappen Delight

Out in front, Oscar Piastri had drive superbly. The gap between Verstappen and the Australian had remained and even extended to over 2 seconds as he crossed the line to win the Sprint in Qatar. He is proving to the F1 world not only that his move to McLaren was correct, but his rookie season is possibly the best since Hamilton’s in 2007.

This was all shadowed by the crowning of a 3-time world champion. Max Verstappen cruised to P2 and takes most of the plaudits as the one who cannot be stopped at the moment. The Dutchman is a machine who has blown away and psychologically decimated his nearest opponents.

Lando Norris sealed a double podium for McLaren by overtaking George Russell into Turn 1 on the final lap. However, it is still a day for Mercedes to be happy about, as a P4 and P5 finish extends their constructors championship advantage over Ferrari.

Sainz came home in P6, and teammate Leclerc was at first in P7 finishing only 4 millseconds in front of a charging Alex Albon. However, the Monegasque received a post-race 5 second time penalty as he exceeded track limits over 3 times on the final lap alone, promoting the Williams to P7 and Fernando Alonso to P8.

The main race tomorrow will be an interesting one. With new tyre rules to be decided in due course, who knows what sort of strategies will be deployed…