Max Verstappen executed a two-stop victory at 2025 Qatar Grand Prix to take the F1 title fight to the season finale.
Verstappen benefitted from a well-timed first stop under a safety car on lap seven to undercut Oscar Piastri to take his seventh victory of the season.
Williams’ Carlos Sainz finished third ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris who passed Andrea Kimi Antonelli on the penultimate lap for fourth, as the Brit made a record 151st start for McLaren.
George Russell, Fernando Alonso, Charles Leclerc, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top ten.
In the drivers’ standings, Norris’ title lead was cut to 12 points as Verstappen leapfrogged Piastri into second with the latter a further six points behind, as the top three were split by 16 points heading into the season finale at Abu Dhabi on 7 December.
At lights out, Piastri led from pole but Verstappen jumped Norris for second round the outside of Turn 1, whilst Russell slipped to seventh behind Antonelli, Sainz and Alonso with a poor start.
Hulkenberg meanwhile started on the soft tyre and cleared Leclerc on lap 2 for tenth but attempted to pass Gasly round the outside a lap later, only for the Frenchman to understeer into him which sent his Sauber spinning out.
The safety car consequently was deployed and everyone bar Piastri, Norris and Ocon opted to pit although Ocon followed suit in next two laps for a double stop to switch from medium to hard and back to medium tyres, as he served a five-second penalty for a jump start.
Up front, Piastri stayed out until the end of lap 24 due to a 25-lap limit on tyre usage and Norris followed suit a lap later for fresh mediums, which gave Verstappen the lead from Sainz and Antonelli as the McLaren pair joined in fourth and fifth.
Piastri passed Antonelli for third on lap 30 with an inside lunge into Turn 1 before the early stoppers made their second stop on lap 33, which unleashed the Australian into clean pace ahead of Norris.
Piastri however opted to make his second stop earlier than expected on lap 43 for hard tyres and re-joined 17 seconds behind Verstappen in third, which he cut by two seconds by the time Norris pitted two laps later as the Brit re-joined in fifth.
Piastri’s gamble ultimately proved futile as Verstappen clung on for victory to set up a three-driver title decider in Abu Dhabi across the weekend of 5-7 December.
Sainz meanwhile finished third for his second podium of the season ahead of Norris and Antonelli after the latter ran wide on the penultimate lap.
Russell, Alonso, Leclerc, Lawson and Tsunoda rounded out the top ten.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 57 | 1h 24m 38.241 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 57 | + 7.995 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 57 | + 22.665 |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 57 | + 23.315 |
| 5 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 57 | + 28.317 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | 57 | + 48.599 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 57 | + 54.045 |
| 8 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 57 | + 56.785 |
| 9 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 57 | + 60.073 |
| 10 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | 57 | + 61.770 |
| 11 | Alex Albon | Williams | 57 | + 66.931 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 57 | + 77.730 |
| 13 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | 57 | + 84.812 |
| 14 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 56 | + 1 Lap |
| 15 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 56 | + 1 Lap |
| 16 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 56 | + 1 Lap |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 55 | Mechanical |
| RET | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | 55 | Puncture |
| RET | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 43 | Mechanical |
| RET | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | 6 | Collision |
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