LUSAIL, Qatar — Max Verstappen of the Netherlands won his ninth race of the season at the Qatar Grand Prix, which was marked by a key penalty and three appearances by the safety car.
Lando Norris, Verstappen’s closest title rival until he secured the championship last week in Las Vegas, was trying to overtake the Dutch driver for the lead until he was dropped to the back of the field by a penalty for failing to slow for yellow warning flags.
Verstappen, who secured his fourth consecutive title in Las Vegas last week, has won two of the last three races but hadn´t won in dry conditions since June.
“It was a lot of fun out there,” Verstappen said according to AP. “Very happy. It´s been a while in the dry to be this competitive. Very proud of everyone within the team.”
Verstappen disposed of another rival off the line, beating George Russell into the first corner. The Mercedes driver had been elevated to pole position in Verstappen’s place after a contentious dispute in qualifying that got Verstappen a one-place penalty for driving too slowly.
Charles Leclerc finished second for Ferrari and Norris´ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri was third.
In a season of controversy over the rules and upheaval at the governing body, the stewards again played a crucial role. Norris had been chasing down Verstappen for the lead before his penalty. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said Norris hadn’t slowed down but argued the penalty was disproportionately harsh.
Verstappen said he has “lost all respect” for George Russell and accused him of being two-faced after the drivers were involved in a public spat ahead of Qatar Grand Prix.
Verstappen was stripped of pole position in the early hours of Sunday morning after the stewards said he impeded Russell as both men geared up for their hot laps in the final phase of qualifying.
“It´s definitely material that the FIA should consider very seriously if we want fairness to be part of going racing in Formula 1,” Stella said.
“To me, it looks like somewhere there must be a book with a lot of dust on the cover that was taken out. `Let me see what it says, I apply this.´ Seems a little too simplistic.”
The stewards were busy, issuing a wide range of penalties for offenses like causing collisions, but also two for Lewis Hamilton for a false start and pit-lane speeding, and one for Russell, who was judged to have dropped too far back in a safety car period. Russell said later he didn’t know “when or how or why” he’d been penalized.
The safety car came out three times, first for crashes at the back of the pack on the opening lap, then for debris from a smashed mirror, and again when Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas ended up in the gravel.
At one stage, it looked like McLaren could seal its first constructors´ title since 1998 in Qatar as Norris and Piastri both eyed podium places.
After Norris’ penalty, Ferrari cut McLaren´s lead from 30 points to 21 with Leclerc´s second place and a solid sixth for Carlos Sainz Jr. after a puncture seemed to have wrecked his race. The constructors’ title will now be decided at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi next week.
That’s a boost to Ferrari’s morale. “We knew it was going to be a very difficult weekend compared to the McLaren but we even managed to take some points away from them, so the fight will be all the way to the last race in Abu Dhabi next week,” Leclerc said.
