Qatar - Sprint

Yesterday, Lando Norris became the last sprint polesitter of the season. Today, he had the chance to turn that pole into a sprint race win. But with the last Grand Prix winner, George Russell, and the winner of last year's sprint in Qatar, Oscar Piastri, behind him, would he be able to keep the lead? 

The start was perfect for McLaren as Norris kept his lead and Piastri managed to overtake Russell and make it a teammate 1-2. It was also great for Haas, with both their drivers gaining a few positions and Hulkenberg moving up enough to find himself in a point-scoring spot. Hamilton managed to move up and, after the dust of the first few corners settled, found himself between the two Ferraris.

But for so many drivers to score, someone has to lose. During the sprint, the dubious honour belonged to Red Bull. Perez and Colapinto both started the race from the pit lane, and the older driver was overtaken before he could even properly join the race. For Verstappen, the first lap was not any better. He lost position to Hamilton, Hulkenberg, and Gasly, falling all the way to P9. And although Lawson is not technically a Red Bull driver, the curse of the team didn't spare him either: he lost 7 places in the first lap. 

Russell was determined to take back the place he had lost and began attacking Piastri as soon as DRS was enabled. He failed on his first attempt and it quickly became obvious that the feat wouldn't be easy as McLaren was determined to do anything to keep the 1-2 standing. Norris was told to keep Piastri within his DRS to give him a better shot at staying ahead of the Mercedes and control the pace according to the situation behind him. 

As the fight for P2 continued, some changes were happening further down the field. On lap 8 Verstappen took P8 from Gasly and on lap 13, after some beautiful wheel-to-wheel racing, Leclerc found a way past Hamilton. When it came to the two Saubers, while Bottas kept his car in the midfield, Zhou, the only driver to begin the race on soft tires, fell to the very back of the pack. He would have finished last, was it not for Red Bull's decision to call Perez into the pit lane for a change of the front wing, presumably to get some data for Sunday's Grand Prix. 

With every lap, Russell only got closer to Piastri and he attacked the Australian every time the track allowed it. In the end, his efforts were in vain and the McLarens blitzed to the inevitable 1-2 finish. But there was a twist at the end of the sprint. Even though Norris led the whole race, it wasn't he who crossed the finish line first. As a way to thank Piastri for conceding his sprint win in Brazil, Norris slowed down at the very last moment, letting his teammate through. And so, for the second time in a row, Oscar Piastri won the Qatar sprint race. 

Order of the grid:

1. Oscar Piastri

2. Lando Norris

3. George Russell

4. Carlos Sainz

5. Charles Leclerc

6. Lewis Hamilton

7. Nico Hulkenberg

8. Max Verstappen

9. Pierre Gasly

10. Kevin Magnussen

11. Fernando Alonso

12. Valtteri Bottas

13. Lance Stroll

14. Esteban Ocon

15. Alex Albon

16. Liam Lawson

17. Yuki Tsunoda

18. Franco Colapinto

19. Zhou Guanyu

20. Sergio Perez