Oscar Piastri headed team-mate Lando Norris as McLaren clinched a 1-2 in the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix Sprint race to strengthen its grip on the Constructors’ title.
Norris headed the pack throughout the 19-lap encounter from pole position but relinquished the win to Piastri right at the death as the two beat George Russell home.
There were 18 cars on the grid as changes to the suspension on their respective cars meant that Sergio Perez and Franco Colapinto were consigned to pit lane starts.
Colapinto, who had qualified slowest, reverted to Williams’ latest suspension having reverted to an older-spec component due to his crash in Las Vegas last weekend.
Norris aced the launch to preserve the lead over Russell, who covered the inside line into Turn 1 over Piastri but lost second position to the McLaren driver on the exit.
McLaren’s battle with Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship was also aided as Lewis Hamilton edged past Charles Leclerc to move his Mercedes into the top five.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen endured a disastrous start as he slipped three places to ninth as Norris proceeded to open up a one-second advantage to his team-mate.
Russell, though, was back on Piastri’s rear come Lap 4 and with a straight-line speed advantage along with DRS he attempted a dive on the McLaren down into Turn 1.
McLaren heeded that warning as Norris slowed down to bring his team-mate back into DRS range while Sainz and Hamilton started to close on Russell ahead in third.
Verstappen had struggled to make initial progress from his wide moment on the first tour, but the Red Bull driver swept past Alpine’s Pierre Gasly into Turn 1 on Lap 8.
Back at the sharp end next time around, Russell pulled out to have another look into Turn 1 on Piastri, who was still shadowing Norris as McLaren controlled the pace.
Leclerc had been biding his time and had clawed his Ferrari into DRS range on Hamilton ahead, which he utilised to launch a lunge on his future team-mate on Lap 10.
Hamilton made Leclerc work to displace his position in the top five, but the latter kept his Ferrari around the outside through Turn 3 to claim the high ground at Turn 4.
Piastri had dropped outside DRS range on Norris going onto Lap 14 and that made him vulnerable to Russell as he covered late to pinch the Mercedes towards Turn 1.
That represented Russell’s last viable opening to split the two McLaren drivers as Norris continued to lead Piastri around the last lap at the Lusail International Circuit.
However, it was Piastri who took the chequered flag ahead as Norris slowed to hand the win to his team-mate, who had done the same in the last Sprint race in Brazil.
Norris timed it to ensure that Russell didn’t edge him to second place as McLaren secured the maximum 15-point total to extend its Constructors’ Championship lead.
Sainz was the leading Ferrari as the Italian marque completed the top five, with Hamilton having to settle for sixth place once Leclerc passed in the second Mercedes.
Nico Hulkenberg attained two points for Haas in seventh place, managing to beat home Red Bull’s Verstappen, who rounded out the points finishers in the Sprint race.
READ MORE – F1 2024 Qatar Grand Prix – Sprint Race Results
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