Qatar - Sprint

On Friday, Oscar Piastri was the driver who took the coveted sprint pole. A day later, it was on him to convert that pole into a win and decrease the points difference between himself and his teammate, Lando Norris. Did he manage to do so? Or did he fall short of the expectations?

16 drivers lined up on the grid, with both Alpines, Lance Stroll, and Lewis Hamilton deciding to start the race from the pit lane. Soon enough, the red lights went out, and the 19-lap-long race began. Piastri kept the lead coming out of the first turn and began comfortably managing the sprint's pace. Max Verstappen immediately jumped two places and began chasing Lando Norris for P3. The Brit was focused on a fight of his own: he was trying to catch up to George Russell. 

Having gone wide at one of the early turns, Charles Leclerc was the biggest loser of the opening laps, falling four places, all the way to P13. Ferrari's weekend-long struggle continued, giving the Tifosi little hope for a Sunday to remember. 

The sprint quickly turned into an unchanging parade. Overtakes were few and far between, rarely resulting in meaningful changes. The only one worth mentioning was that performed by Kimi Antonelli, which pushed him into P6. The Italian's position only improved when Yuki Tsunoda, the driver ahead of him, was given a 5-second penalty for exceeding track limits.

Piastri ended up taking the win without much trouble, and thus, the last sprint of the 2025 season came to an end. The two points made up to his teammate pushed the Australian a step closer to the coveted WDC trophy. 

Order of the grid:

1. Oscar Piastri

2. George Russell

3. Lando Norris

4. Max Verstappen

5. Kimi Antonelli

6. Yuki Tsunoda

7. Fernando Alonso

8. Carlos Sainz

9. Isack Hadjar

10. Alex Albon

11. Gabierl Bortoleto

12. Oliver Bearman

13. Charles Leclerc

14. Liam Lason

15. Esteban Ocon

16. Nico Hulkenberg

17. Lewis Hamilton

18. Pierre Gasly

19. Lance Stroll

20. Franco Colapinto