Oscar Piastri made it a hat-track of Qatar Sprint wins as he dominated the 19-lap event at Lusail, comfortably finishing five seconds clear of Mercedes’ George Russell and with title rival team-mate Lando Norris in third place. Max Verstappen, level on points with Piastri ahead of the weekend in Qatar finished fourth. 

When the lights went out at the start Piastri got away well from pole and quickly established a small gap back to Russell. Behind them, Norris also got away well, but fourth-place starter Fernando Alonso was beaten to the punch by both Red Bull drivers. 

First past was Yuki Tsunoda who powered past on the run to Turn 1 and then Max Verstappen clung on around the outside through Turns 2 and the inside of Turn 3 to muscle his way through. The title-contending Dutchman then dived down the inside of Tsunoda to grab fourth before reaching the second sector. 

Verstappen then began to exert pressure on Norris. However, the Dutchman soon began complaining that he was again experiencing the bouncing that had wrecked his Sprint Qualifying session, and he quickly dropped back from championship leader Norris. 

With following in turbulent air difficult at high-speed Lusail there were few changes to the order. Behind Verstappen, Tsunoda clung on to P5 but in the closing stages it looked like repeated track limits infringements would cost him the place. 

The Japanese driver was shown the black and white flag but then a fourth transgression, at Turn 10, earned him a five-second time penalty and he looked set to drop behind Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli who had managed to climb to sixth, ahead of Alonso. 

However, in the final laps Antonelli was also shown the flag and then made another mistake to also earn a penalty, leaving Tsunoda in fifth.

Behind seventh-placed Alonso, Williams driver Carlos Sainz claimed the final point in eighth, easily holding off Isack Hadjar and Alex Albon.

Victory in the Sprint means Piastri is now 22 points behind Norris, with Verstappen a further three back. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix – Sprint
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 19 26'51.033 
2 George Russell Mercedes 19 26'55.984 4.951
3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 19 26'57.312 6.279
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 19 27'00.087 9.054
5 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 19 27'10.360 19.327
6 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 19 27'12.424 21.391
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 19 27'15.589 24.556
8 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 19 27'18.366 27.333
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 19 27'19.239 28.206
10 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 19 27'19.958 28.925
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 19 27'23.999 32.966
12 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 19 27'25.562 34.529
13 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 19 27'26.215 35.182
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 19 27'27.949 36.916
15 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 19 27'29.871 38.838
16 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 19 27'30.671 39.638
17 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 19 27'37.204 46.171
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 19 28'00.567 1'09.534
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 19 28'08.993 1'17.960
20 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 19 28'11.837 1'20.804