The Qatar Grand Prix Preview

By Teagan Crump

The 2025 Drivers’ Championship has had a sudden shift- after the double McLaren disqualification at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Max Verstappen is now tied with Oscar Piastri on points and is drawing closer to Lando Norris.

📸: Pinterest

This year’s Qatar Grand Prix will be happening at the Lusail International Circuit on Sunday 30th November at 4pm UK time (7pm local time).

Currently, the three title protagonists are separated by 24 points. Last weekend, neither McLaren scored any points as their cars breached the Formula One rules about minimum skid block thickness. Max Verstappen, however, scored maximum points, taking a valuable 25 for winning the race in Sin City.

Similarly to 2024, this year’s Qatar Grand Prix was a sprint weekend. The maximum amount of points that can be scored during a Sprint Race and a Grand Prix is 33 (25 for a Grand Prix win, and 8 for a Sprint Race win).

2024 Qatar Grand Prix recap

📸: McLaren

The Sprint Race

Lando Norris started on pole for the 2024 Qatar Sprint Race, and successfully defended the first corner. Unusually, reigning champion Max Verstappen struggled on the opening lap. The Dutchman dropped positions and fell down the order. During the opening few laps, a tantalising battle between Piastri and Russell kept fans wondering who was going to claim second position. On lap 13, future teammates Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc had a battle, with the two banging wheels and looking set to collide but eventually the Monegasque claimed fifth position.

Lap 19 saw Norris slow down and move across the track, allowing for Piastri to move in front and take victory. The final positions were Piastri in first, second for Norris and Russell taking the final podium position.

The Grand Prix

George Russell claimed pole for the main event at the Lusail International Circuit, but dropped to third place on the opening lap with Verstappen and Norris battling and overtaking the Mercedes driver.

After just two corners, a yellow flag was shown for the first sector with two drivers going off and into the run-off area. The two drivers involved were Alpine’s Ocon and Williams’ Colapinto. In a replay, viewers saw that Haas’ Hülkenberg had no grip, tried to avoid Albon, and spun. Ocon was hit by the Haas, and then hit Colapinto. This chain reaction of incidents caused an early Safety Car.

Later on in Lap one, Albon spun and reported that he:

“Got massively hit by Stroll.”

Stroll was given a 10-second penalty as he was found to have caused a collision, but some experts claimed that the Albon-Stroll incident was simply a racing incident.

Lewis Hamilton also faced an investigation for a false start.

Lap 5 saw a yellow flag thrown for Liam Lawson, he spun and was given a 10-second penalty as he was deemed to have caused a collision with Valtteri Bottas.

On lap 34, several drivers, including Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz suffered with damage following a car losing one of their mirrors earlier on in the race. Just four laps later, a safety car was called, and the drivers had to go through the pitlane as the start- finish straight was cleared of debris.

After the safety car restart on lap 40, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen had an intense battle for the race lead. There was a brief yellow flag shown as both Pérez and Hülkenberg spun.

Lando Norris was handed a 10-second stop-go penalty on lap 46 for failing to slow under yellow flags. From lap 47, Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon battled for ninth position.

On lap 57, after a dominant drive, Max Verstappen crossed the line to take first place, he was followed by Leclerc in P2, and Oscar Piastri in third position.

What to expect at the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix

The weather forecast looks to be typical of weather when F1 are racing in the Middle East: hot, dry and sunny, a far cry from the cold and small amounts of rain of last week’s Las Vegas race.

📸: BBC Weather

Some important things to consider going into this weekend are the title battle- are McLaren going to prioritise one of the drivers over the other? Lando Norris is nearly a race win ahead of Piastri ahead of points, yet was slower in FP1. 

Another important factor is the Sprint Race: how will it affect the points and we know that all three drivers had impressive results and strong form last year. Many drivers may err on the side of caution during the sprint as they have the qualifying later that day, and the Grand Prix on the Sunday.

Additionally, the hot weather is a critical element. During the first Qatar GP in 2023, many drivers were physically unwell due to the conditions. Thankfully the issue seems to have been resolved, but it is always a worry for teams. 

This race weekend’s action is sure to bring drama- this championship battle will be one to remember. There are 58 points still up for grabs and two drivers wanting to be the first McLaren world champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2008. Max Verstappen could also become the first driver to be a five-time world champion for Red Bull Racing.