By Alex Rhodes

McLaren’s strategy woes continued as Max Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix, taking the 2025 championship fight to a final-round showdown in Abu Dhabi.

The papaya team has based its 2025 campaign on fairness and equality between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, giving both an equal shot at the Drivers’ Championship.

However, this approach has left them vulnerable to Verstappen, who is now just 12 points behind Norris with one round remaining.

Qatar was always likely to produce strategic intrigue, as Pirelli mandated a two-stop race with a maximum stint length of 25 laps, limiting strategy options even further.

Piastri qualified on pole, continuing his dominant weekend and welcome return to form.

Leading comfortably from the start, he opened a three-second gap over Verstappen and Norris within a handful of laps.

Under normal circumstances, the Australian looked set to disappear into the Qatari night, such was his pace.

However, a lap-seven safety car turned the race on its head.

With 50 laps remaining, any driver who pitted could still satisfy the two mandatory stops.

Everyone except the McLaren pair boxed for fresh tyres, leaving the team exposed.

What followed was a strategic disaster.

After the restart, Piastri and Norris were forced to push flat-out for nearly the entire race in an effort to recover the 26 seconds lost to Verstappen and the chasing pack.

Despite Piastri’s excellent pace, he ultimately finished eight seconds behind the Red Bull. Norris fared worse, stuck behind Carlos Sainz’s Williams and Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes in the fight for fifth.

A penultimate-lap error from Antonelli promoted him to fourth, salvaging two valuable championship points.

Piastri was visibly frustrated post-race as his chances of a maiden championship slipped away.

“I haven’t spoken to anyone but I feel pretty c**p as you can imagine,” said Piastri.

“I don’t know what to say.

“We didn’t get it right with the strategy. The pace was very strong. I didn’t put a foot wrong. Just a shame.”

Verstappen, meanwhile, was upbeat as he moved into second in the standings for the first time since Japan.

“This was an incredible race for us,” said Verstappen.

“We made the right call as a team to box under the safety car. I’m super happy to win here and stay in the fight until the end… It’s all possible now.”

It was also an outstanding weekend for Sainz and Williams, with the Spaniard taking his second podium of the season — two more than Lewis Hamilton has managed for Ferrari.

On a weekend when the team expected to struggle, Sainz delivered fast, consistent race pace and comfortably held off Antonelli.

“We nailed the race pace,” said Sainz. “I was super quick… we nailed the strategy, the tyre management, the start, all the defending — and that brought us an unexpected podium. I could not be prouder.”

Sainz’s resurgence since Zandvoort has been remarkable.

Once more than 50 points behind his teammate, he has reduced the gap to just nine, helping Williams secure P5 in the Constructors’ Championship, their best result since 2016.

Despite finishing fourth, Norris remained reluctant to blame McLaren’s strategy call.

Norris said: “We could have done many things differently, but we didn’t… we thought we did what was correct, so nothing wrong.”

Heading into Abu Dhabi, Norris leads Verstappen by 12 points, with Piastri a further four behind.

A podium for Norris is enough to secure him a maiden championship.

Elsewhere, George Russell endured a difficult race, a poor start and traffic leaving him stuck at the tail end of the points.

For Ferrari, it was another underwhelming weekend. Charles Leclerc wrestled his misbehaving car throughout, spinning in qualifying and finishing eighth.

Hamilton also struggled, failing to progress from Q1 in both sprint and race qualifying, and scoring just eight points in his last four Grands Prix.

He now risks finishing outside the top six in the championship for the first time, with rookie Antonelli only two points behind.

After the race, Hamilton said the car felt like “a fight like you couldn’t believe. It definitely has been the most challenging year both in and out of the car.”

Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10. After out-qualifying Verstappen for the Sprint, he struggled for race pace, fuelling rumours about his future as Isack Hadjar continues to be linked with his Red Bull seat.

For the first time since 2010, three drivers remain in title contention heading into the final race.

On that occasion, it was the driver third in the standings, 15 points adrift, who claimed the championship.

Piastri will hope for a similar twist of fate, while Norris aims to seal his first world title.

Qatar GP Race Results:

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:24:38.241

2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +7.995s

3. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Williams) +22.665s

4. Lando Norris (McLaren) +23.315s

5. Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +28.317s

6. George Russell (Mercedes) +48.599s

7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +54.045s

8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +56.785s

9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +60.073s

10. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) +61.770s

11. Alexander Albon (Williams) +66.931s

12. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +77.730s

13. Gabriel Bortoleto (Kick Sauber) +84.812s

14. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +1 Lap

15. Esteban Ocon (Haas) +1 Lap

16. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1 Lap

17. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) DNF

18. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) DNF

19. Oliver Bearman (Haas) DNF

20. Nico Hülkenberg (Kick Sauber) DNF