Qatar Grand Prix: Oscar Piastri Wins Race As Max Verstappen Emerges As F1 Champion For Succesive Third Time

 

McLaren's Oscar Piastri is the winner of the slightly dramatic Sprint race in Qatar as pole-setter, Max Verstappen finished behind him but the Red Bull driver was declared the F1 Championship winner for the third time in a row.  

There was no need to wait until the end of the season as points scored from the race extended Verstappen total to 407pts. With five races remaining, the nearest driver, Sergio Perez (223pts) can not level with the third-time champion. 

Meanwhile, Perez dropped out of the race while his teammate became champion. Perez was caught in a challenge between Esteban Ocon and  Alpine's Nico Hulkenberg in Turn 2. 

Nico who was in between the two when he collided with Ocon as all the three were racing abreast. The contact caused both Ocon and Perez to spin off the track onto the side. Nico was able to retract on pace and continued the race. He later pitted to retire over damages from the collision. 

The race proved productive for McLaren as they got two podium finishes with Lando Norris improving to finish behind Verstappen in second. It was Piastri's maiden race win in any Sprint race and also the team's second race win since 2021 with Daniel Ricciardo in Monza - before the two races, the last time they won a race was in 2012. 

P2-setter, George Russell dropped down to fourth and his teammate and former F1 champion, Lewis Hamilton finished fifth for Mercedes. 

Mercedes have since losing the F1 driver's title to Red Bull in 2021 been struggling to live up to their good old days. More so, the seven-time champion, Hamilton's best season finish was with 413 points compared to Verstappen's 454 last season. 

However, Hamilton have won more title, poles, and races than any other driver in Formula One except equalling Michael Schumacher on most titles with seven.