Max Verstappen rose above his competition to win a chaotic Qatar Grand Prix from third on the grid. Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris both picked up extreme penalties in a day to forget for the British drivers.
The field failed to make it past the first corner of the opening lap unscathed. Nico Hulkenberg clipped the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, sending him barrelling into the sidepod of Franco Colapinto. The Haas driver managed to escape with just a puncture, but the other two drivers’ days were ended.
Out at the front, Verstappen snatched the lead from polesitter George Russell, who also lost a position to Norris. There was trouble further back with Hamilton – he picked up a five-second time penalty for a false start, for which he immediately apologised on the radio.
Verstappen held the lead at the safety car restart for the Turn-One collision, but Norris stayed in range. On lap 24, he remained just under two seconds behind the newly crowned four-time world champion.
Behind him, Russell was fighting tooth and nail to hold off the charging Oscar Piastri. The Australian got his break when his rival pitted for new Pirelli rubber on lap 24 as Mercedes’ pit crew struggled to remove the right-rear tyre, leading to a seven-second stop.
The race fell into a lull as the gaps were maintained on a long opening stint, but when Valtteri Bottas ran over Alex Albon’s detached wing mirror on the front straight, chaos erupted. Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz ran over the ensuing debris, picking up punctures.
As a result, the safety car was called out, and there was more chaos in the script at the restart. Sergio Perez lost drive in his RB20 and was forced to retire, while Hulkenberg beached his Haas car in the gravel.
Another safety car was produced, and while Verstappen put his foot down and drove away from the field, there was misery in store for the British drivers behind him.
Norris was hit with a 10-second stop-go penalty for failing to slow under yellow flags, Hamilton picked up a drive-through penalty for speeding in pit lane, and a safety car infringement landed Russell a five-second penalty after the chequered flag.
There were some feel-good stories further back in the field. Zhou Guanyu crossed the line in P8 to record Sauber’s first points of the season, and Alpine took a step forward in the battle for P6 thanks to a heroic drive from Pierre Gasly.
