Oscar Piastri takes victory in the final Sprint Race of the season at the Lusail International Circuit.
Lando Norris played the ultimate team game after leading the race from the get go, he would let his team-mate Oscar Piastri past of the final corner of the last lap to win the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint Race and make it a McLaren 1-2.
A recap of the weekend so far
With this being a sprint weekend, the one and only practice session in Qatar saw Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc top the classification in FP1 with a 1:21.953.
Both McLaren drivers would complete the top three as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s fastest times were still over four tenths behind the Monegasque’s quickest lap.
Whilst the Drivers’ Championship has already been wrapped up, with Max Verstappen claiming his fourth title last weekend in Las Vegas, there is everything still to play for in Constructors’ Championship.
McLaren currently occupy top spot in the standings on 608 points. With Ferrari only 24 behind the Woking team and Red Bull a further 29 points behind the Scuderia, this weekend could be vital for whoever comes out on top.
In Sprint Qualifying, Norris would take pole position for the Sprint Race with a 1:21.012. Last weekend’s pole sitter and race winner George Russell will line-up on the front row, putting in a time less than a tenth of a second slower than Norris.
Piastri would complete the top three, with Carlos Sainz joining the Aussie in P4 on the second row. Both Leclerc and Max Verstappen could only muster the third row of the grid in P5 and P6.
With FP1 and Sprint Qualifying now in the history books, it was advantage McLaren heading into the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix Sprint Race.
The starting grid
Lights out and away we go
Norris got a great start off the line as he led into Turn 1. Piastri would get past Russell and up into second place moments later. Verstappen found himself down in P9 heading into lap two of the race, loosing three places in the process after having a difficult opening lap.
Norris managed to keep his car over a second ahead and out of DRS range from his team-mate behind him, going into lap three of the race. Russell however, continued to close in on Piastri as he made the dive into Turn 1 on the Aussie on lap 4 but, the McLaren driver was able to keep the position.
After six laps, Norris had dropped back slightly to help Piastri out and keep him ahead of Russell. Lewis Hamilton was able to gain a couple of places in the first third of the sprint race, as he moved himself up two places into P5, sandwiched in between both Ferrari’s.
On lap 8, Verstappen was able to get past Gasly and up into P8, making the move into Turn 1. As we reached just over half-way in the race, Norris was maintaining his lead out in front, as a DRS train started to form between the top four.
On lap 13, Leclerc made the move on Hamilton and up into P5 after some great battling. The Mercedes driver did try to come back at the Monegasque but, the Ferrari man managed to stay ahead.
A lap later, Norris was now out of DRS range from his team-mate behind and Russell tried to lunge down the inside of the Australian driver into Turn 1. Piastri did make a slightly late move to keep him behind, as Russell was not impressed by this on his team radio.
The closing stages
As we entered into the final few laps of the race, Norris was continuing to lead as Russell was getting closer to Piastri for P2. Verstappen was struggling to get past Nico Hulkenberg as the Dutchman was down in P8 and would only score 1 point.
On the final lap, Russell tried to make a move on Piastri but, was unsuccessful in his attempt. On the final corner, Norris would let Piastri go past him to win the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint Race as McLaren made it a 1-2. Russell would complete the top three.
Full Classification
Feature Image Credit: Formula 1 via X/Twitter