Photo by Clive Mason – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Looking at winners and losers from the F1 Sprint Race at the Qatar Grand Prix
The Formula 1 Sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix is in the books.
And it has given us a first-time winner, and a three-time champion.
Oscar Piastri took home his first F1 win, remaining patient after George Russell got by him on a set of soft tyres early in the race. Piastri and his team trusted that the medium compound was going to be better in the end, and it was as he took home victory.
Just behind him? Max Verstappen. While an earlier crash from Sergio Pérez clinched Verstappen’s third-straight F1 Drivers’ Championship, it is not like Verstappen to just reel off laps. He fought his way back to the top of the field, taking home second place.
Along with a title.
Here are the winners and losers from the F1 Sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Winner: Max Verstappen
When teammate Sergio Pérez was knocked out of the F1 Sprint race, that clinched the third-straight F1 Drivers’ Championship for Max Verstappen.
Again, it was a formality, as the Red Bull driver needed just three points over the final six race weekends to clinch the title. But still, he now has that third title in hand, putting him in rarified air in F1.
Loser: Logan Sargeant
“He’s under pressure, and time is running out.”
That was one of the many phrases that came from the F1TV commentary box following Logan Sargeant putting his FW45 into the gravel early in the F1 Sprint race, and knocking himself out of the running yet again.
Sargeant is under a tremendous amount of pressure to keep his seat, as he is the only driver currently on the grid who does not know if he will be back next year. James Vowles gave him a big vote of confidence last week, but since then he struggled in qualifying for the Grand Prix on Friday, and struggled again in both the F1 Sprint Shootout and the F1 Sprint itself on Saturday.
At some point, results have to come. But time is truly running out.
Winners: McLaren
What a Saturday for McLaren.
After a heart-breaking day on Friday, when both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri lost places in qualifying as laps were deleted due to exceeding track limits, they put together a massive Saturday in both qualifying and in the F1 Sprint. They locked out the front row, with Piastri taking P1 and Norris P2, and survived a scare at the start when the drivers on the soft compound got off the line like rocket ships at the beginning.
But both Piastri and Norris — as well as those advising them on the radio — remained calm, and Piastri held on for the first victory of his F1 career. Norris, after sliding back through the top eight, charged his way to a podium finish of his own, finishing third.
That finish banked 13 more points for McLaren, and looking at the big picture, that could be big in their fight with Aston Martin for fourth in the Constructors’ Championship. Fernando Alonso finished in ninth, out of the points in the F1 Sprint race.
That means as Saturday draws to a close, McLaren is now just 36 points back of Aston Martin.
Sunday could be a different story, as Alonso will start in P4. Piastri is set to start sixth, and Norris in tenth. But the McLarens have been incredibly fast all weekend, and could be even closer to Aston Martin in that fight when it is all said and done tomorrow.
Losers: Pirelli
The early story from Lusail International Circuit on Saturday was the changes to the track, and the potential for a three-stop race to be mandated due to concerns over tyre wear. Pirelli, the official tyre manufacturer for F1, and FIA were going to use data from the 19-lap sprint race to determine if 20 laps would be the mandated cap for tyres in the Grand Prix, effectively making it a three-stop race.
However, two early safety cars in the F1 Sprint race — as well as another brought out on Lap 12 — paint a complicated picture for that analysis.
As such, you can probably expect Sunday to be a three-stop race, with the edict coming down from FIA ahead of the start.
Winners: Mercedes
With both the Constructors’ Championship and the Drivers’ Championship having been decided, the biggest bit of drama that remains is the fight for second in both categories.
The closest battle at the moment is the fight between Ferrari and Mercedes, and the two teams began Saturday separated by just 20 points in the standings.
Thanks to a fourth-place finish from George Russell, and a fifth-place finish from Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes inched further ahead in that fight. The Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc finished in sixth- and seventh-places, respectively, banking five points from the F1 Sprint race.
The nine points from the Mercedes pair? That means that their lead increases to 24 points.
It might not seem like much, but with the way this battle is shaping up, every point matters.
Plus, the Mercedes pair is slated to start in second and third in the Grand Prix Sunday, with Russell in second and Hamilton in third. As for the Ferrari duo, Leclerc will start fifth, and Sainz in 12th.
By the time Monday rolls around, Mercedes could see an even bigger lead.
Loser: Sergio Pérez
Could we see a fight for second in the Drivers’ Championship emerge as well?
The three-way crash between Esteban Ocon, Nico Hülkenberg, and Sergio Pérez not only sent Pérez into the gravel and clinched the title for Verstappen, but it opened the door to a potential fight between Pérez and Lewis Hamilton for second in the Drivers’ Championship.
Hamilton’s fifth-place finish banked him another four points in the Drivers’ standings, putting him at 194 points on the year. That is now just 29 points behind Pérez, who has 223 points on the season.
Then on Sunday, when the big points are handed out, Hamilton is set to start third, with Pérez rolling off the line down in P13.
In fact, look at how Hamilton has closed the gap to Pérez in the weeks leading into the Qatar Grand Prix, from Formula1Points.com:
We can only imagine what this chart will look like come Monday morning.
