Champion-elect Max Verstappen romped to a straightforward victory at a tire-compromised Qatar Grand Prix ahead of another podium performance for McLaren.
Verstappen’s only risk came off the line, when George Russell attempted to press him onto the Turn 1 apex to take position.
Lewis Hamilton, starting third, got a better launch with his soft tires and tried to sweep around both, but he turned in too early and clipped his teammate, sending himself and Russell spinning off track.
Russell was forced back to pit lane for fresh tires, but Hamilton retired, beached in the gravel, for which a five lap safety car was called.
Hamilton will be investigated after the race for crossing the live racetrack to return to pit lane.
Verstappen was fortunate to avoid the carnage, and he subsequently aced the safety car restart to put 1s on second-placed Oscar Piastri by the end of the lap.
Though he was unable to significantly extend his margin — his car’s usual strength managing its tires was neutralized by all drivers being forced into predefined stint lengths by the FIA— he faced no strategic threat from the lead crossing the line an unencumbered 4.8s victory at the head of the field to cap off a championship-winning weekend.
“I think what made the race was my first stint,” he said. “After that I could manage my pace, making sure the tires were always in a good window.
“The McLarens were quick today. I had to push for it. It was a tough race out there.”
Piastri capitalized on the Mercedes friendly fire on the first lap to slot into second place, up from sixth on the grid, for which his chief rival was Fernando Alonso.
The McLaren, however, was the comfortably quicker machine around Lusail’s fast corners, and despite Alonso’s attempt to undercut at the first stops, Piastri remained comfortably ahead.
Teammate Lando Norris subsequently came into play, however, with a strong final two stints. The Briton overcut Fernando Alonso at the second stop and made gradual inroads into his teammate’s advantage until they were split by just over 2s at their final tire changes on lap 43 and 44.
With another double podium on the cards, McLaren ordered its drivers to hold position. Norris, protesting that he was faster, set a series of personal-best times, including the fastest lap of the race, reducing the margin to 1.5s.
Piastri responded with a personal best of his own, growing the margin back to 1.8s. It was enough to end the argument in his favor, securing him second place, a career-high grand prix finish following his sprint victory the night before.
“Very, very happy,” he said. “Really impressive pace. Definitely the hardest race I’ve had in my life.
“With three stops it was basically flat out — it was 57 qualifying laps, which I definitely feel like I’ve done.”
Norris closed back to within 1.1s of Piastri on the final lap, emphasizing that he believed he had the pace to be ahead, but was satisfied to have collected another double podium for the team.
“Just a mega race from start to finish,” he said. “Good start, good pace throughout the whole thing — probably had the best pace out there today, so I’m happy.
“Great job for the team. Three [podiums] in a row.”
Pre-race safety concerns about the integrity of Pirelli’s tires over the Qatar curbs had the FIA mandate a maximum of 18 laps per tire, meaning the race was run to an unusual three or four stops, depending on when each driver made their first tire change.
Russell, who had to stop at the end of the first lap for repairs and fresh tires following his crash, was locked into a four-stop strategy but made great progress early to rise to fourth in what was effectively his third stint, undercutting his way past Charles Leclerc and benefitting from Fernando Alonso spinning himself off the track at Turn 2.
The Briton held that position through the last stops and to the flag in a good return after his first-lap incident but a sign of what might have been achieved with a clean race.
Leclerc also got ahead of Alonso after the Spaniard’s uncharacteristic off, with the Aston Martin consolidating in sixth.
Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas finished seventh and eighth, both gaining a place on their grid spots thanks to Hamilton’s failure to finish.
Lance Stroll finished ninth on the road but was penalized 5s late for exceeding track limits.
Sergio Perez finished ninth, up from a pit-lane start, after inheriting the place from Stroll.
The punishment dropped Stroll to 11th, promoting Sergio Perez and Zhou Guanyu into the final points-paying places.
Gasly was demoted to 12th with track limits penalties of his own, putting him ahead of Alex Albon and the lapped Kevin Magnussen, Yuki Tsunoda, Nico Hulkenberg and Liam Lawson.
Logan Sargeant retired with illness, and Carlos Sainz failed to take the start due to pre-race fuel system issue.
