McLaren’s Oscar Piastri triumphed in 2023 Qatar Sprint whilst Max Verstappen wrapped up a third F1 title.
Piastri snatched an unlikely pole position on a day which began with an additional practice session due to tyre concerns, and the Australian proceeded to clinch his first victory in F1 in a McLaren one-three finish.
Verstappen meanwhile finished second to wrap up his third F1 title, which actually was confirmed on Lap 11 following an incident involving his title rival, Sergio Perez.
Sprint Practice
Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg was first out onto the circuit in a late additional practice session following overnight track changes, which saw track limits at Turns 12 and 13 revised whilst Pirelli raised tyre concerns due to damage found on tyres after Qualifying.
Stewards consequently directed that new tyres can be used for a maximum of 20 laps in the Grand Prix, whilst used tyres can only be used for 22 laps at maximum alongside a mandatory three-stop strategy.
The entire field ventured out on a mixture of medium or soft tyres of which Verstappen finished fastest as the checkered flag fell.
Sprint Shootout
SS1
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was first out on track and set the benchmark time of 1m 29.047 but his teammate – Charles Leclerc led a queue of cars who quickly bettered his lap time, as Verstappen went quickest with 1m 25.510 with everyone on medium tyres.
Once everyone had completed at least one flying lap with three minutes left in the session, the elimination zone compromised of Kevin Magnussen, Liam Lawson, Lance Stroll, Logan Sargeant and Guanyu Zhou.
As the checkered flag fell, Stroll qualified 16th ahead of Alex Albon, Yuki Tsunoda and Magnussen, whilst Logan Sargeant failed to set a representative lap time due to breaching track limits.
Russell topped SS1 with 1m 25.413 set on his final flying lap at the end of the session.
SS2
Russell emerged first onto the track in SS2 and set the benchmark time of 1m 26.262 but was bettered by several drivers including Oscar Piastri, Verstappen and Lando Norris who went fastest with a session topping 1m 24.947 as everyone again opted for mediums.
With under three minutes left, Hulknberg, Pierre Gasly and Lawson sat in the drop zone alongside Zhou and Valtteri Bottas, although the latter pair hadn’t ventured out and set a flying lap time yet.
Once the checkered flag fell, Bottas and Zhou were eliminated in 14 and 15th positions behind Lawson, as Hamilton qualified only 12th after his final lap was deleted for exceeding track limits.
Gasly meanwhile missed out on SS3 to Hulkenberg by just 0.176 seconds.
SS3
Verstappen was the first driver to hit the track as the top ten switched to the soft tyre in SS3, and set a benchmark 1m 24.543 but his time was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 5.
Sainz consequently went quickest with 1m 26.961 but was displaced by Sergio Perez on 1m 25.382 who was briefly displaced by Leclerc whose 1m 25.131 was deleted, as Norris went top with 1m 24.536 and 0.039s clear of his teammate – Piastri.
Piastri though had the last laugh as he left it until the checkered flag to snatch his first pole position in F1 in either Sprint or Grand Prix, as he delivered 1m 24.454 to head Norris in a McLaren one-two ahead of Verstappen, Russell, Fernando Alonso, Sainz, Leclerc, Hulknberg and Perez.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon didn’t set a lap time and qualified tenth on the Sprint grid.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Piastri | McLaren | 1m 24.454 |
| 2 | Norris | McLaren | + 0.082 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.192 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.387 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.505 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.701 |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.793 |
| 8 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.866 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.928 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | No Time |
| 11 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1m 25.686 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.276 |
| 13 | Liam Lawson | AlphaTauri | + 0.550 |
| 14 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 0.898 |
| 15 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 28.860 |
| 16 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1m 26.849 |
| 17 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.013 |
| 18 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 0.077 |
| 19 | Kevin Magnussen | AlphaTauri | + 0.589 |
| 20 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 38.892 |
Sprint Race
At lights out, Piastri on his medium tyres made a clean start but Norris and Verstappen on medium tyres fell to sixth and fifth respectively; as Russell, Sainz and Leclerc leap up to second, third and fourth in the order on the faster soft tyre.
Lawson meanwhile got spun out at Turn 2 from behind which triggered a Safety Car for one lap and racing resumed on Lap 3, with Verstappen sat fifth – enough for his third title – whilst Perez was demoted to 11th by Gasly.
Up front, Piastri ran slightly deep at Turn 6 which allowed Russell to sneak through up the inside to take the lead as the Safety Car again came out, after Sargeant lost control and spun out at Turn 4.
Racing resumed at the end of Lap 6 as everyone held position on the restart aside from Alonso who repassed Ocon for seventh, having been overtaken on the previous restart.
Verstappen passed Leclerc with DRS on Lap 9 to take fourth whilst Perez likewise passed Gasly for tenth on the same lap, but Verstappen further tightened his grip on the title a lap later as he passed Sainz for third.
Verstappen’s third title was confirmed on Lap 11 as Perez attempted to pass round the outside of Hulkenberg into Turn 2, unaware that Ocon was sweeping up the inside of the German who got sandwiched in the melee with Ocon and Perez spinning out.
Hulkenberg meanwhile retired in the pits a lap later due to severe damage to his Haas as the Safety Car came back out.
Racing resumed at the end of Lap 14 with Piastri heading the field as Leclerc cleared Norris for fifth despite being on the worn soft tyre, whilst Gasly passed Hamilton for eighth.
Russell lost second to Verstappen into Turn 1 on Lap 16 but the now three-time champion couldn’t deny Piastri his first win in F1, as the Australian sprinted away to a maiden Sprint victory.
Norris meanwhile passed Leclerc and Sainz in the opening four corners on Lap 17 and eventually cleared Russell for third on the final lap.
Hamilton recovered to finish fifth ahead of Sainz, Leclerc and Albon who rounded out the top eight.
In the driver standings, Verstappen extended his title lead to an unassailable 184-point lead over Perez, which wrapped up his third F1 title in succession.
Perez’s gap over Hamilton in the fight for second meanwhile was trimmed to 29 points.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 19 | 3..m .. |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 19 | + 1.871 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 19 | + 8.497 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | 19 | + 11.036 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 19 | + 17.314 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 19 | + 18.806 |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 19 | + 19.860 |
| 8 | Alex Albon | Williams | 19 | + 19.864 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 19 | + 21.180 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 19 | + 21.742 |
| 11 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 19 | + 22.208 |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 19 | + 22.863 |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 19 | + 24.523 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 19 | + 24.970 |
| 15 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 19 | + 26.858 |
| RET | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 11 | Collision |
| RET | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 10 | Collision |
| RET | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 10 | Collision |
| RET | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 3 | Spin |
| RET | Liam Lawson | AlphaTauri | 0 | Spin |
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